MANILA (UPDATE) - Authorities are on the lookout for individuals who try to evade coronavirus protocols in President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown, the head of Joint Task Force Davao said Friday.

Some individuals opt to enter Davao City by land to evade the mandatory COVID-19 swab testing in the city's international airport, Col. Consolito Yecla said.

"We monitored na napakaraming individuals opted to travel by land or use other airports like airport in GenSan (General Santos City), Cotabato, and Cagayan de Oro para maiwasan 'yung ating mandatory testing sa Davao International Airport," Yecla said in a virtual press briefing.

"So we were tasked by the city mayor to intercept 'yung mga LSIs (locally stranded individuals) and ROFs (returning overseas Filipinos) na magla-land trip," he added.

On Friday alone, Yecla said police intercepted and escorted 42 stranded individuals to COVID-19 testing centers.

Local authorities in Davao require individuals headed for the Mindanao city to present a negative COVID-19 swab test result.

Mandatory COVID-19 testing, meanwhile, is required by the government for all returning Filipinos to prevent the entry of more cases of the virus.

The Philippines, as of July 23, has recorded 74,390 confirmed COVID-19 infections, 48,136 of which are active cases.