Caloocan to require passes after MECQ

MANILA, Philippines — The Caloocan City government will still require quarantine passes even after the modified enhanced community quarantine is lifted, Mayor Oscar Malapitan said yesterday.

“The quarantine pass is for the purpose of reducing and limiting the unnecessary mobility of people. It will ensure that exposure to the virus will be minimized, especially in crowded places,” he said.

Malapitan said the return to general community quarantine (GCQ) does not mean that people should stop following health protocols.

“We want to ensure that people are limited, especially in market places where most of the contacts were recorded,” he said.

The city government also ordered the color-coding of quarantine passes to indicate the day and time their holders may use them.

Under the new guidelines, pregnant women, those under 21 and over 60 years old will not be issued passes.

The passes of those confirmed to be COVID-positive will be suspended while they are under quarantine.

Informal workers such as tricycle drivers, construction workers, vendors and other persons working in the streets will be issued passes but those working in companies can use their company identification card in lieu of the quarantine pass.

Non-residents of Caloocan can visit the city without the required pass for as long as they are authorized persons outside of residence under GCQ guidelines, Malapitan said.