DOTr reminds LSIs not to go to ports, airports sans ticket

It said that the 203 LSIs at the port are bound for Cebu, Bacolod, Butuan, Iloilo, Palawan, and Dumaguete and will depart beginning July 12 on commercial vessels.  (File photo: Department of Transportation – Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – Locally stranded individuals (LSIs) were advised by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) not to risk going to ports or airports without a confirmed booking after the continued accumulation of LSIs in some aerial and maritime gateways in the country.

“People [should] not to go the ports and airports kung wala silang ticket. Para din ‘yan sa kaligtasan at kalusugan nila (if they don’t have a ticket. This is for their own safety and well-being),” said DOTr Assistant Secretary Goddes Hope Libiran in a message on Friday

The reminder came after DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade visited the Manila North Harbor on Thursday and ordered the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to provide better accommodations for the 203 LSIs currently awaiting passage to different provinces.

Even those with tickets, Libiran said, were getting stuck at the Manila North Harbor due to a moratorium imposed against LSIs in different regions.

“These are people with tickets. Aarugain namin ‘yan hanggang mai-lift ‘yung moratorium ng (We’ll take care of them until they lift the moratorium on the) acceptance of LSIs in different regions,” Libiran said.

She added that those without tickets situated outside the port are also being accommodated by different government agencies.

Following Tugade’s visit, the DOTr, in a Facebook post, said the PPA has since provided 200 folding beds and additional electric fans to the LSIs at the Manila North Harbor, while seven families with young children and three senior citizens were transferred to an airconditioned area of the building.

It said that the 203 LSIs at the port are bound for Cebu, Bacolod, Butuan, Iloilo, Palawan, and Dumaguete and will depart beginning July 12 on commercial vessels.