Locally-stranded individuals who want to apply for the documentary requirements in travelling to other places in the country can now have an easier time in the capital town of Virac.
Last week, the administration of Mayor Sinforoso Sarmiento Jr. established the Bayanihan One Stop Shop to manage the processing of LSIs securing Medical Clearance Certificate (MCC) and Travel Authority (TA).
This is in compliance with the directive of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) that pushed for the creation of such bodies at the municipal level.
Through Executive Order No. 22, s. 2020, the mayor named himself as chairperson, with newly-appointed administrator and former DILG regional director Elouisa Pastor, municipal health officer Dr. Elva Joson, Virac PNP officer-in-charge Maj. Antonio Perez, MSWDO Jean Triumfante, MLGOO Jose Rogel Maglaqui, and representatives from the Sangguniang Bayan and the Philippine Coast Guard as members.
Under the new process, the LSI must first register with the barangay of origin to fill up a Registration Form (Annex A) and ask for a barangay certification that he/she has not developed any COVID-19 symptom at least 14 days before the travel request.
Then they must get the Medical Clearance Certificate from the Rural Health Unit, after which they will submit Annex A and the MCC to the Helpdesk of the Virac police station, which will inform the LSI by text or call once the TA is approved.
The move comes on the heels of new guidelines governing the movement of people under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) issued by the Philippine National Police (PNP).
While workers and other people listed as APOR do not need TA, those traveling to another province or region for Indispensable Travel (IT) and LSI, as well as non-essential travel, must secure the TA.
Instead of the previous requirement that inter-province movement must be approved by the regional police office, chiefs of police are now authorized to sign the TA on behalf of the PD for travel between provinces in the same region.
The provincial directors, on the other hand, can sign the TA for travel between regions.