DILG chief says expired IATF IDs still valid

FILE: Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Friday (Oct. 11, 2019). (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA – Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said on Thursday that the identification cards issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) would still be considered valid beyond its June 20 expiration date.

Año said that those with the expired IATF IDs just need to present other proofs of identification or their certificates of employment should these be asked by police or military personnel manning quarantine checkpoints.

“Iho-honor pa rin natin. Kung ire-renew pa natin yan, maraming trabaho pa. Hindi naman nabago yung pagkatao ng may hawak ng ID, meron din naman silang kasamang accompanying company ID (Those IATF IDs will still be honored. If we renew that, it will entail a lot of work and eat up a lot of time. So, there’s no need since the identity of the bearer of the ID did not change),” he said in a Laging Handa briefing.

The IDs were rolled out to essential workers and media personnel after the IATF-EID placed the entire Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) last March to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

The issuance of IATF IDs seeks to ensure unhampered passage of those belonging to essential industries through checkpoints while the rest of the population was ordered to remain inside their homes.

Those tagged as essential workers and front-liners are those working in healthcare facilities, banks, money remittance centers. grocery stores/ supermarkets, public utilities, businesses engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of food, medical supplies, and other essential products, and media entities.

Apart from the IATF IDs, the RapidPass system formulated by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) was also introduced to reduce face-to-face contact between personnel manning quarantine checkpoints and individuals exempted from the quarantine guidelines during the lockdown.

Currently, only Cebu City remains under ECQ, the strictest of all quarantine classifications.

Meanwhile, Año said that imposing a one-pass-per-family order in Cebu City is to ensure “strict home quarantine” particularly in high-risk villages.

“Only one member of the family will be allowed to buy food and essential items or run important errands. We must also ensure that they are not a minor or senior citizen,” he said in Filipino.

He ordered the suspension of the city government-issued quarantine passes to pave the way for the implementation of a stringent “stay-at-home” protocol to avert a further increase in the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.

“Even if we suspend the 250,000 quarantine passes, we still have the authorized persons outside residence (APOR). These include out front-liners who are involved in food and medicine businesses. As for emergency cases like those who need to undergo dialysis as well as utility services like water and telephone companies, these will be allowed,” he added.