MANILA — Over 10,000 students stranded in schools and dormitories due to coronavirus lockdowns have asked the government for help to return home, a transportation official said Tuesday.

Philippine Ports Authority General Manager Jay Santiago said more than 10,300 have registered online for the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) "Hatid Estudyante" program, which seeks to transport stranded students to their hometowns.

Santiago, who heads the program, clarified that they still need to "filter" the figure as some registrations may be double entries.

Stranded students may sign up for the program through an online form, where they will be asked to provide personal details, said Santiago.

Santiago noted that stranded students aged 18 and below need to provide a letter indicating their parents' consent.

"We will try to consolidate their request with other students who are similarly situated, meaning, same location where they are now, same location where they want to go home," he told ABS-CBN in an interview.

The DOTr will fetch the students from their dormitories once the agency gets confirmation from the local government of their respective destinations that they would accept them, said Santiago.

"We treat it on a per LGU (local government unit) basis, we coordinate with the local chief executives so they will understand the plight of the students and accept the students when they come back," he said.

Santiago said they have made arrangements with 2 local government units to bring home the first batch of stranded students by Thursday.

An earlier survey by the Commission on Higher Education found that over 9,000 tertiary education students were stranded in dormitories and schools nationwide.

• Coronavirus crisis leaves over 9,000 students stranded in dorms: CHED

Local governments have implemented strict border control as a measure against the spread of the new coronavirus disease. Restrictions are expected to ease in more areas shifting to general community quarantine by Saturday.