Año tells stranded persons not to be chance passengers

June 26, 2020

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday reminded the public, especially Locally Stranded Individuals, to not go to the airport and seaport if they have no scheduled travel.

“What we want to happen is for the people not go to the airport, seaport if they don’t have a confirmed travel schedule because you will just be placed in an inconvenient situation,” Año said in a radio interview.

He made the statement after a lot of locally stranded individuals go to the airport and seaports as chance passengers.

“We have action numbers. Everyone will be listed and will be advised if there is already available travel for you,” he said.

Año said there will be a scheduled trip on July 4 where a lot of locally stranded individuals will be accommodated except for those going to Eastern and Central Visayas.

He said those who are stranded, especially those going to Eastern Visayas will only be allowed to go home by July 9.

But what seems to be a problem for the national government is the locally stranded individuals who are trying to go home without coordinating with them. These persons allegedly pay cargo ships to take them as passengers.

“Our problem now is what we called guerrillas or those who go home without coordinating with the LGU. This happens after they get their medical certificate and travel pass… they will not coordinate with the LGU and just ride on cargo trucks, cargo ships. They will pay the crew to allow them to board,” Año said.

He said this is risky as they are not checked by the local government unit when they arrive in their province.

Locally stranded individuals who will go back to their hometown must undergo a 14-day quarantine in the designated isolation facility of their province before they can go back to their families.

Because of this incident, Año warned that they will now go stricter with cargo ships and trucks.

“Don’t let anyone board especially if it is not included in your manifest because you will face sanctions (because) that will be human trafficking,” he said.  Ella Dionisio/DMS