Hey guys. So, I’m flying back home to Cebu soon and in order to do this, under the current situation, I have to get a Travel Authority from the PNP office. This document is required in order for someone to travel domestically in the Philippines – at least when you cross borders between provinces, in order to slow down the spread of COVID-19.

However, as great as the intent is, the execution of the process isn’t really very efficient. I personally got stressed applying for this document because instructions aren’t clear on the onset. You are able to ask for instructions from the barangay but they always seem to skip out on things and you always end up lost and asking for questions one way or the other.

So, with all the stress and confusion I experienced, I decided to share what I’ve learned of the process so that you won’t have to go through the same. If you have all of the requirements, you can actually finish everything in half a day! You can apply for the travel authority 3 days from your travel date at the earliest. If your travel date is more than 3 days away, they will reject you and ask you to come back! Here are the things you need to apply for the COVID Shield Travel Authority (and bring photocopies because you need to submit them).

Requirements

• VALID ID. Make sure your valid ID shows that you are a resident of the city where you are applying from. Otherwise, you will need a barangay certificate.
• BARANGAY CERTIFICATE (OF RESIDENCY), only if your valid ID does not show your current address. If you rent a condominium, you can try to request the certificate from your condo admin, but to be safe, best to get this from the barangay.
• BARANGAY HEALTH CERTIFICATE. You can get this from your barangay health center. They will just ask you if you have symptoms or have been in contact with a positive COVID-19 case, no need to present results of a COVID test for this.
• TRAVEL DETAILS. If you are flying by plane, bring a photocopy of the ticket. if via car, you need to share the vehicle details and the driver’s name.
• LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE/COORDINATION from your receiving barangay/LGU. If you don’t have this, you can still apply for the travel authority but processing will take longer as they will need to call your receiving barangay/police office to coordinate your arrival and get their approval to proceed. You will have to explain your reason for travel and if you have any contact from the local LGU to make the coordination faster so to avoid this altogether, ask your relatives/friends at your destination to coordinate this directly with the barangay and send the document to you.

Process

Here is the step-by-step process I followed. This may or may not be 100% applicable to your city as processes aren’t really streamlined across. Also, note that some cities/municipalities have online processing so it may be faster but generally, you can follow this as a guide! There’s news of moving the entire process online nationwide but I’m not sure when that will be implemented. Having one standard process (and online at that) would make this more efficient and importantly, safe for everyone!

• Make a photocopy of your valid ID and travel itinerary. If your valid ID doesn’t have your current address, get a barangay certificate from your barangay hall to prove your residency.
• Go to the barangay health center to get a health certificate. Please wear your face shields on top of the normal masks because this is required to enter any government office.
• Go to the PNP satellite that processes the travel authority in your city/municipality. These are normally done in auditoriums/sports complex due to the volume of people. You can ask for the exact location from the barangay health center when you get your health certificate
• Submit all requirements to the person manning the front desk of the PNP satellite handling the travel authority processing
• If you don’t have a letter of acceptance/coordination from your receiving barangay, you need to go through the coordination process where PNP will call your receiving barangay to align your travel.
• Once you have all requirements including the letter of coordination/acceptance, you can proceed to the encoding line. They will type your details on to the Travel Authority template and request you to review it before getting it signed.
• In the city where I applied, they process all travel authorities by batch. So they collect all documents until just before noon, get it all stamped with the serial number and signed, then distribute it at around lunch time. Same with the afternoon batch. Be prepared to wait!
• Once the Travel Authority is signed and stamped with the serial number, they will release it to you and you’re done!

Other items you need to consider is that the place where you can apply for this is usually crowded with other people. Social distancing is still in place but because of the volume of people, you can never really be more careful. Always wear your mask and face shield, bring your own water and alcohol/sanitizers, and stay away from the crowd as much as possible.

I created a short video on my experience so please also check it out (and subscribe if you haven’t yet).

If you have any questions – drop them at the comments, or share your experience if you’ve tried applying for the travel authority! 🙂