The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) sent a show-cause order to a governor who allegedly wants national government employees to undergo the COVID-19 test and quarantine protocol.
At an online media forum on Sunday, DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said that the governor wants the government’s Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APOR) to quarantine the province.
Densing declined to provide details on which region the province was or when the show cause order was sent.
“Hindi puwede iyan kasi sa Omnibus Guidelines po natin, puwedeng gumalaw ang ating APOR basta patunayan niyang siya ay empleyado ng gobyerno, may travel order, at walang sintomas na pinapakita,” said Densing.
“Napaka-importanteng maintindihan iyan ng ating mga local government officials.”
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases had earlier passed a resolution for “unimpeded travel” of state workers in official business so government transactions would not be delayed.
“Although resolution siya, sa ating Omnibus Guidelines, matagal na hong bawal talaga iyan. ‘Yung tinatawag natin Authorized Persons Outside Residence, hindi na talaga natin nire-require iyan na i-quarantine,” said Densing.
DILG: Governor allegedly wants to quarantine even government employees
Densing also assured that government employees and officials will not go around if they have symptoms of the disease. He also said that travel orders are limited as long as they can be in one place.
“‘Wag natin pigilan ‘yung ating mga empleyado ng national government para gampanan ang kanilang trabaho,” he said.
Densing, meanwhile, shared that non-APOR individuals are being allowed to enter areas with low quarantine classification as part of easing restrictions to run the economy.
Meanwhile, DILG also said only three out of every 10 individuals in Metro Manila are willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Based on a survey conducted by cities in the National Capital Region (NCR), DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said this Sunday that only 20 percent to 30 percent of the region’s population is in favor of being vaccinated.
That number is very low in the 80 percent of the population in NCR that DILG targets for herd immunity.