Davao City: Colonel Kirby John Kraft, director of the Davao City Police Office gave the order from the police national leadership granting authority to all chiefs of police and station commanders to issue travel authority to all local stranded individuals all over the country.
He said all chiefs of police and station commanders are directed to process and to issue travel authority to all locally stranded individuals in their respective areas of responsibility.
“Station commanders should ensure the establishment of a one-stop shop service in their respective stations with the police help-desk together with the district health office help-desks for fast and efficient issuance of travel authority. Station commanders should follow the DCPO and the City Mayor’s guidelines in the issuance of travel authority,” Kraft said.
He stressed that to make the applicant comfortable with the issuance available within ten to 15 minutes of waiting time.
“Huwag pahirapan ang mga tao. Kailangang maramdaman nila ang serbisyo ng DCPO,” Kraft said.
He issued the order after calls to streamline the process of issuing travel orders to stranded individuals following the observation that they often crowd at the DCPO headquarters.
Alex Roldan, director of the Department of Interior and Local Government Office XI supported the move as he called on the national Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Reemerging Diseases to scrap the travel authority requirement issued by the police which serves as magnet for people to gather.
He said the current situation defeats the purpose of social distancing.
Roldan stressed that now is the time to give consideration to the people for them to leave rather than holding them for long.
He said the process of requiring them travel pass is unsafety since they tend to gather in one place from various barangays.
“It becomes a magnet for people to gather themselves just to ask for the document. Asking for more documents by letting them fall in line at the police office defeats the relevance of social distancing in preventing the spread of the COVID-19 infection,” Roldan said.
He urged the City Health Office to assist the police in putting up a one-stop shop in various police stations in the city to help the people who want to travel outside the region. (PIA XI-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)