Año says Leyte COVID-19 case part of Hatid Probinsiya, not Balik Probinsiya

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday clarified that the individual who tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Leyte province was part of the Hatid Probinsiya program of the national government.

This was in contrast to the previous remark of Baybay City Mayor Jose Carlos Cari that the first COVID-19 case in the town was one of those who have availed the Balik Probinsiya program.

"They are part of the Hatid Probinsiya..." Año said in an interview on ANC.

He explained that there is some sort of confusion between the Hatid Probinsiya and Balik Probinsiya programs of the government.

Año noted that Hatid Probinsiya is for letting stranded individuals to go back to their home provinces during the health crisis while the Balik Probinsiya is a long-term program of the government in which families are encouraged to return to provinces and settle there.

"There is actually a sort of mix-up or confusion. What we are doing actually now is Hatid Probinsiya... Hatid Estudyante, Hatid Probinsiya, Hatid Manggagawa," he said.

"It's not really a part of Balik Probinsiya because Balik Probinsiya is a program of the government where we intend to bring home families or even workers whose families are in the provinces and they would settle permanently and they will be provided assistance through livelihood. What we are actually doing now is bringing home stranded individuals..." he added.

Año earlier directed the Philippine National Police to set up help desks in police stations to assist locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) who wish to go home in this time of quarantine.

Under the guidelines set by the National Task Force Against COVID-19, LSIs and ROFs must get a medical certificate from the municipal or city health office certifying that the person is neither a contact, suspect, probable, or confirmed COVID-19 case, and has completed the 14-day quarantine

The DILG chief also reminded local government units not to impose excessive fees for stranded individuals who will ask for medical certificates.

Earlier reports said a total of 121 beneficiaries returned to Leyte last week during the pilot implementation of the Balik Probinsiya program.

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, who pushed for the implementation of the Balik Probinsiya program, has said the target number of Filipinos who will go home to the provinces will be around 100-300 for every roll out, depending on the capacity of the receiving local government units.—AOL, GMA News