DOTr to coordinate with DepEd, CHED, DILG in preparation for F2F classes
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation plans to coordinate with other government agencies and rationalize trips of public utility vehicles (PUVs) in anticipation of the shift to face-to-face classes later this year.
Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said at Monday's Laging Handa briefing that they plan on working with the Departments of Education and of the Interior and Local Government, the Commission on Higher Education and the Metro Manila Development Authority to ensure a smooth transition.
The department already met with officials from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to discuss how to go about the return of on-site learning and to get accurate information on the availability of vehicles.
Bautista said they will be pushing for fleet rationalization or making available PUVs more efficient by reorganizing their routes.
“Meron pong isang grupo na gumagawa ng study. Unfortunately, parang hindi pa natatapos ‘yung kanilang full study sa fleet rationalization and we will work closely with them para matapos na natin ‘yan bago magstart ‘yung face-to-face classes,” he said during an interview with state television on Monday.
(There’s a group currently working on a study on fleet rationalization. Unfortunately, their study has yet to be finished and we will work closely with them so we can utilize it already before face-to-face classes start.)
In-person classes by November?
Malacañang announced last week that the country will start a phased transition to conducting classes in-person beginning September.
Vice President Sara Duterte, also education secretary, has proposed a full face-to-face learning set-up by November. The Philippines is one of the last countries in the world to reopen its campuses to students due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, commuters group The Passenger Forum (TPF) warned that metropolitan areas in the country are not yet ready to accommodate the shift back to holding classes in person as some transport issues have yet to be resolved.
“The announcements from the Palace mean we have about two months to solve our public transport issues or at least provide some immediate relief to the plight of our commuters,” TPF Convener Primo Morillo said in a statement on Sunday.
“One of the reasons why students and teachers want a shift to F2F is due to the stress they get from online classes. Their stress will just shift from in front of their laptops to our sidewalks and PUVs if we ignore the connection between the transport crisis and our target to return to F2F,” he added.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last week also announced that the government “will subsidize” the students’ transportation allowance by providing free rides on the Light Rail Transit-Line 2, which cuts through the University Belt in Manila and Katipunan Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City, once they go back to school.
READ: Ahead of return to schools, students to get free rides on LRT-2
This is on top of the extended Libreng Sakay program along the EDSA Busway. However, Bautista on Monday noted that the DOTr will need an additional P1.4-billion budget to keep the program running until December.
“We will ask for additional budget from the Department of Budget and Management, so we will ask help from the president so the DOTr will have funding for the program,” Bautista said in mixed English and Filipino. — Kaycee Valmonte with reports from Franco Luna
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