Residents of Metro Manila who are not considered authorized persons outside of residence (APORs) would not be allowed to enter the National Capital Region (NCR) during the lockdown period, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). 

DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya told Rappler on Friday, August 6, that only the APORs who have essential reasons to travel would be allowed to enter the country’s capital during the enhanced community quarantine period from August 6 to 20. 

The same protocol was mentioned by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Guillermo Eleazar during his press conference on Friday. According to Eleazar, the trapped residents should just wait for the end of the lockdown. 

“Maghihintay na sila ng after ng ECQ. In fact even last week noong nag-transition tayo from GCQ with heightened restrictions to GCQ with heightened and additional restrictions eh ‘yun eh ni-launch natin, ‘yung border, ‘yung outer perimeter ng NCR Plus,” the PNP chief said.

(They will now wait after the ECQ. In fact, even last week, during our transition from GCQ with heightened restrictions to GCQ with heightened and additional restrictions, we already launched the border control in the outer perimeter of the NCR Plus.)

Malaya explained that Metro Manila residents had one week lead time to prepare for the lockdown. 

Who can cross borders?

The following are considered APORs, according to the guidelines provided by the COVID-19 Interagency Task Force: 

• Health and emergency frontline services and uniformed personnel;
• Government officials and employees on official travel; 
• Duly authorized humanitarian assistance actors;
• Persons traveling for medical or humanitarian reasons, and those leaving their residence to be vaccinated (with proof of schedule), and persons availing of DFA consular services (with confirmed appointments);
• Persons going to and from the airport including overseas Filipino workers carrying Overseas Employment Certificates;
• Any person whose purpose of travel to the zone of destination is for work, business, or activity that is also permitted in areas under ECQ;
• And public utility vehicle operators

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However, on Thursday, Eleazar announced that the PNP would implement “tiny bubbles” in the NCR. This meant that individual cities in Metro Manila, including Pateros, would have their own bubbles with their own set of rules.

Under the tiny bubbles rules, only working APORs or those reporting physically to their workplace and considered as essential workers, as well as individuals with other essential reasons, would be allowed to cross borders. 

On August 6, during the first day of the strictest lockdown in Metro Manila, the Philippines logged 10,623 new COVID-19 cases. This is the highest number of cases since April 17. 

The total number of confirmed cases in the country is now at 1,638,345, with over 28,000 deaths. – Rappler.com