Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. on Thursday appealed to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19 to allow fully vaccinated Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APORs) living in locked-down areas a “free egress-ingress.”
“Let them go out for a living. And allow them to be with their families after work. It’s their daily routine to get through with this pandemic… financially and mentally,” Marcos said in a statement.
He made the call following the IATF’s pronouncement of granular lockdown rules that will be implemented in the National Capital Region (NCR) starting Sept. 16.
The IATF said only health care workers and returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) will be considered APORs and will be allowed passage to and from areas under granular lockdown.
“Why are they called APORs if they won’t be allowed to leave the house, isn’t that the meaning of that acronym?” Marcos said.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said on Tuesday that NCR will be placed under Alert Level 4, the second-highest classification under the new IATF guidelines.
Individuals prohibited to leave their homes under Alert level 4 include: those aged below 18 and aged above 65, people with comorbidities, immunocompromised, and pregnant women except when buying food and working in essential industries.
“Total lockdowns run counter to having APORs and the IATF will appear inconsistent should they insist on it. We are appealing to the IATF to let fully vaccinated APORs to leave their homes under granular lockdowns,” Marcos added.
Recently, more than a thousand business owners submitted a joint manifesto urging the government to give fully vaccinated individuals more mobility to spur economic growth.
The group added that this move “would give establishments an opportunity to bounce back and workers to rebuild their livelihood.”
Marcos also said it is important for the unvaccinated to see the added benefits of being fully vaccinated, since this will ease their fears and finally encourage them to get the jab.
“It is also important to show people that there are many benefits of having a complete vaccine to allay the fears of some and encourage them to get vaccinated.”