Barangays in Catanduanes that charged fees for the issuance of a quarantine pass will have to reimburse the money to those who paid for the privilege to slip through police checkpoints.
Last Friday, March 20, 2020, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional director Atty. Anthony C. Nuyda advised field personnel to inform local officials that the pass slips must be distributed on a house-to-house basis in their areas of responsibility.
He also reiterated that the said ID Pass/Pass Slips must be free of charge.
The DILG in Bicol issued the advisory after it learned that some barangays are releasing the Barangay Quarantine ID Pass/Pass Slips in their barangay halls, defeating the intent of the Enhanced Community Quarantine and Social Distancing.
In an interview with Radyo Natin, DILG Catanduanes provincial director Uldarico Razal Jr. disclosed that the charging of P30 to P50 for the Pass Slip is illegal, especially if it has not been mandated by a barangay ordinance.
In the absence of such ordinance, barangays have no basis to collect and issue receipts for the issuance of the quarantine pass, which the DILG director said should not be abused so that nobody would venture outside during the ECQ except those authorized by law.