‘Government policy on transport not pro-rich’

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang defended yesterday its decision to prevent traditional jeepneys from plying the streets of Metro Manila despite the scarcity of public transportation.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the government has been consistent in upholding public health, for which reason buses and other forms of public transport such as the Philippine National Railways and Light Railway Transit are deployed to ferry passengers.

He noted that these modes of transportation can accommodate more people without the need to sacrifice minimum health standards like social distancing and proper hygiene.

“The IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) is still upholding public health, that is why as (far as) public transportation is concerned, it is not just cars that we have given priority, we have allowed the PNR, we have allowed MRT, we have allowed the buses, TVNS, Grab, taxis, etc.,” Roque said in a TV interview.

“So it’s not true that the favored mode of transportation is private. I think we know that majority of the people still don’t have access to private transportation. I don’t think that isn’t pro-poor,” he added.

Roque parried insinuations that the decisions by the IATF are pro-rich, citing the priority to allow private cars and resumption of non-contact sports such as golf.

“As far as sports is concerned, the prevailing and single criterion is – is it a contact sport? If it’s not, it’s allowed too. Golf just happened to be one of that sports that is played, number one, outdoors so it is not a risk really,” Roque said.

He said basketball is one of the contact sports which are banned under the current setup because there is physical interaction among the players, violating social distancing rules.

The Department of Transportation, Roque said, is studying the deployment of jeepneys and UV Express vehicles to accommodate more people using public transportation.

“It’s the convenience of the commuting public... I think the UV Express stands a better chance than jeepneys because the sitting arrangement is all facing the same direction with no passengers facing each other. Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chair Martin Delgra said they are looking at having jeepneys again and that there will be a decision within the month,” Roque said.

Jeepney drivers

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said yesterday jeepney drivers are “worth more than Harvard MBAs as they take fares and not syndicated loans with sovereign guarantees.”

Locsin was reacting to a jeepney group that installed a pulley system inside their unit in an attempt to lessen contact between driver and passenger.

“You guys see little plastic box with pulley jeepney drivers invented for taking fares with minimal risk? Shet man, kawawa (pityful),” Locsin tweeted.

He earlier said the “inflated condom-looking modernized jeepneys have no place in the lives of Filipinos who have been served well by traditional multicolored jeepneys – an icon and reality.”

“Breaks our heart; jeepney drivers clinging to livelihoods the deep-pocked/ well-connected will soon take from them. They invented a tiny pulley. C’mon, man. They have served the most neglected of our people travel to their small jobs with small pay. Have you guys no hearts?” Locsin said in another tweet on Tuesday.

31 bus routes

The LTFRB said yesterday all 31 rationalized bus routes in Metro Manila and nearby provinces have been opened to ease the public’s commuting woes.

The board said the last route which would traverse Cubao, Quezon City to Doroteo Jose in Manila finally rolled out, completing 31 city bus routes.

The rationalization of bus routes in the National Capital Region is part of the “partial, gradual and calculated” opening of public transportation modes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Before the lockdown, there were over 90 bus routes plying nearby provinces and the NCR, which was streamlined to the current 31.

Over 4,600 bus units have been authorized to ply the rationalized routes opened by the government.

Hatid-Tulong

Meanwhile, the government’s Hatid-Tulong program, which seeks to bring back locally stranded individuals (LSIs) to their hometowns, is getting a much-needed boost with 400 buses being offered for free by Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Mayor Chavit Singson.?The buses are under Partas, the company of Singson, president of the League of Municipalities.

Transportation Assistant Secretary Eymard Eje said the buses would be part of a “grand send-off” for LSIs on July 4 and 5. Pia Lee Brago, Romina Cabrera, Richard Mercurio