Will quarantine passes be required again under new ECQ? Roque answers

With the National Capital Region (NCR) and neighboring areas reverting back to the stricter enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), will quarantine passes again be necessary to leave homes?

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said he does know if local authorities would be able to implement such a system with the weeklong lockdown.

“Ang travel pass po hindi kinakailangan. Ang problema po kasi isang linggo lang itong ating ECQ, no? So hindi ko po alam kung sapat ang panahon para mag issue ulit ng quarantine passes,” Roque said in a live briefing.

[Travel passes are not necessary. The problem is, the ECQ will only last for one week. So I don’t know if this is enough time to issue quarantine passes.]

NCR, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal will be placed under ECQ starting midnight Monday, March 29 until Sunday, April 4.

Despite this, the presidential spokesperson urged the public to carry quarantine passes should they be available.

“[S]iguro dalhin n'yo na rin po, pero sa ngayon po isang linggo kung anong meron kayo dalhin niyo. Kung wala naman po, magbigay na lang ng eksplanasyon na bibili lang ng pagkain o gamot,” he said.

[Maybe you can also bring it with you, for this one week, bring whatever you have. If you don’t have a quarantine pass, just give an explanation that you are only buying food or medicine.]

“Pero I’m sure marami pa ring mga lokal na pamahalaan that will attempt to distribute this quarantine passes. Pero kasi napakalimitado po atsaka holiday naman talaga yung Thursday and Friday,” he later added.

[But I’m sure many local governments will attempt to distribute quarantine passes. However, it is limited and Thursday and Friday are really holidays.]

Roque earlier announced that curfew was extended from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has reported a total of 712,442 COVID-19 cases. —JST, GMA News