PRESIDENTIAL Management Staff Assistant Secretary Joseph Encabo yesterday urged the police and local government units to guard against “colorum” vehicles transporting “unsupervised” and “unmonitored” locally stranded individuals (LSIs) who may have contributed to the high incidence of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in some provinces.
Encabo, Hatid Tulong project officer in charge, said some LSIs had been using “colorum” vehicles that may have been contracted by some private groups, by local government units, or by the LSI themselves to transport them to their destinations.
During the Laging Handa public briefing, he said the LSIs using the “colorum” vehicles are not registered with government and some of them may not have gone through COVID-19 tests. He added there are some LSIs using “expired” medical certificates or test results and expired travel documents.
“It should be stopped because I believe that those colorum activities are the main reason or cause for the increasing COVID cases in an area,” he said.
Encabo said he has coordinated with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and asked the police to help in the strict monitoring of these vehicles.
He said some LGU officials continue to refuse to accept LSIs. He said when this happens, the DILG communicates with the LGUS directly and the government assures them the LSIs dispatched had tested negative in rapid tests before they were allowed to travel.
The government also assured the LGUS of assistance in attending to the LSIs’ medical needs like undergoing swab test and 14-day quarantine upon their arrival in their destination.
Encabo said government intends to send off 13,000 more LSIs as soon as vehicles become available.
Over the weekend, more than 4,000 LSIs had been dispatched to parts of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that since the launch of the Hatid Tulong, 62,762 stranded Filipinos had been sent home to their provinces as of July 2.
Encabo said aside from LSIs in Metro Manila, the government had also been transporting stranded individuals between regions and provinces. He said some of those transported are students and workers who were stranded due to the lockdowns like those travelling from Tuguegarao to Isabela, Cagayan or Batanes.