LUNA, Apayao, July 6(PIA) — The provincial government welcomed three locally stranded individuals today who were ferried home from Manila thru the “Hatid Tulong Program” of the national government.

Locally stranded individuals from Apayao are dropped off along the Apayao – Cagayan highway boundary in Luna on July 6. They were brought home thru the government’s Hatid Tulong Program . (DILG Apayao pohoto)

The three individuals namely Marieta Balucon and Jovet Mercado of Luna town and Raquelyn Cabaniza of Flora town were ferried by Partas Bus and dropped off at the Apayao – Cagayan highway boundary in Luna, Apayao at around 12:35 in this afternoon.

Provincial government representatives s led by Executive Assistant Thomas Pumbaya and LSI Focal Person Geriahzon Sebastian together with Apayao police and Bureau of Fire Protection officers welcomed the LSIs. Food packs were distributed to the LSIs and the bus driver and conductor who travelled for more than 15 hours from the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. They were among the 10 buses ferrying LSIs to the different provinces in Northern Luzon.

Upon arrival, the LSIs were ferried by their respective barangay patrol vehicles and were brought to their respective isolation quarantine facilities in Flora town and in Luna town. They will be under strict isolation and monitoring in the next 14 days as part of the COVID-19 measures being implemented for returning residents of Apayao.

The three Iapayaos are among the more than 5,000 LSIs who benefited from the Hatid Tulong Program, a government initiative to provide transportation to those stranded individuals in Metro Metro due to lockdowns and travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

LSIs from Paracelis, Mountain Province are ferried by the Kalinga PDRRMO to the provincial isolation facility where the Paracelis LGU will pick them up to bring home.

The program is spearheaded by the Presidential Management Staff with the different agencies including the DOH, DSWD and Office of the President and the Office of Senator Bong Go. The DOH provided medical check-ups and Rapid Diagnostic Tests to the LSIs and made sure that they are negative of the COVID-19 before being allowed to be sent home.

The DSWD extended cash assistance to the returning LSIs while the OP and the Office of Senator Bong Go donated food packs for the travelling LSIs.

Meanwhile, three LSIs including a 3 -month old baby from Paracelis, Mountain Province were also brought home thru the Hatid Tulong program. They were dropped off by a Partas bus at Talaca junction in Liwan West, Rizal at 8:00AM today where the Kalinga Provincial DRRMC picked up by and brought them to the CARAA provincial holding area, where they will be fetched by the Paracelis LGU.

Paracelis in the eastern part of Mountain Province is nearer to the towns of Kalinga. (JDP/RMC-PIA CAR)