Riding pillion in areas under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) is allowed for frontliners, even if their drivers are not their family members, Joint Task Force COVID Shield Commander Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar announced today.
Eleazar said in an interview with news program Unang Hirit that this benefit, allowed by the National Task Force Against Covid-19 (NTF), also extends to those who have been designated as authorized persons outside of residence (APOR).
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“Last night, we had a meeting with the National Task Force where city mayors were also invited and the NTF, through Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Secretary Eduardo Año, allowed riding pillion in areas under the MECQ for essential workers and APOR as long as their trip is work-related because public transport has been suspended,” Eleazar said.
“How about their drivers? Regardless whether they are APOR or not, the driver who brought them, they are allowed [to travel], we will consider them,” Eleazar said.
The police chief added, however, that motorcycle shields are still required to be used. The shield, sometimes called a barrier, is a contraption invented that would supposedly prevent COVID-19 infection. The motorcycle should also be privately-owned and is not being paid for by the passenger.
“When we see in the checkpoint that you are wearing a barrier, we would assume that you have brought someone or are picking up an essential worker…They do not have to be married,” he said.
He added that essential workers and APORs are allowed to cross borders of MECQ areas, but only if their trip is work-related. However, they need to present an ID to prove that they are employed in essential industries.
The MECQ has been reimposed in Metro Manila and four other areas from Aug. 4 to 18 to give health workers a “time out” from the deluge of COVID-19 cases. The workers have also sought a better pandemic strategy from President Rodrigo Duterte, who prefers to wait for the availability of a China-made vaccine promised to him by his counterpart, Xi Jinping. However, Duterte lashed out at medical workers, whom he accused of “not doing anything” amidst the spread of the virus.
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