MANILA - Business Process Outsourcing firms and other export-oriented companies will be allowed until March 20 to transfer equipment to their employees and set up work from home arrangements, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

BPOs and similar firms also have until Friday to make arrangements with hotels for basic lodging for their staff who will not be able to work from their homes.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed the whole of Luzon on lockdown Monday night, disallowing public transport and suspending operations of most businesses except those deemed as essential in emergency situations.

Many BPO employees on Monday were unable to get to their places of work or return home as they got stopped at checkpoints.

But in a memorandum dated March 18, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said BPO workers would be allowed to travel to bring home their equipment so they could work from their residences.

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Workers in BPOs and other export-oriented companies only need to present proof of employment, the address of their employer and residence.

Some companies have allowed their employees to bring home workstations and communications equipment so they can keep operating during the lockdown.

The BPO industry employs around 1.1 million people.

It is also a major source of dollars for the Philippines, second only to OFW remittances.