‘Status quo’ in public transport in city, province

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

Both the city and province of Iloilo wills stick with their current policies on the loading capacities of public transport vehicles while awaiting the guidelines from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on the reduced social distancing policy amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The DOTr on Sept. 11, 2020 announced that it would be reducing social distancing in public transport to 0.75 meters starting yesterday, Sept. 14.

This would eventually be reduced to 0.50 meters by Sept. 28, and to 0.30 meters by Oct. 12.

Reducing the prescribed distance means more passengers can board public utility vehicles (PUVs) and more income to drivers and operators.

The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday released a statement, neither supporting nor refuting the new policy, but merely reminding people to be “extra vigilant” in situations where they can’t observe physical distancing.

Both city and provincial governments follow the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) Memorandum Circular No. 2020-2185 which provides for transportation regulations in areas under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ).

Both areas, however, are currently under Modified GCQ (MGCQ).

The guidelines provide for 50 percent capacity in public transport, without any specific distance provided.

In a press briefing on Monday, the Iloilo City government’s COVID-19 spokesperson Jeck Conlu said that the city government is still awaiting the guidelines from the DOTr.

Conlu added that they will be meeting with the DOTr’s attached agencies, including the LTO, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) today, Sept. 15, to discuss these new social distancing policies.

“The city government hasn’t officially received the guidelines from the DOTr with regard to implementation of this new transport policy. We are constantly communicating with our Regional Directors at MARINA, LTO and LTFRB. We will possibly have a meeting with them tomorrow,” Conlu said.

Conlu further added that in the meantime, the city will be on “status quo” and will be following the rules that are already in place.

“Our decision here in the city government is status quo. What we have been implementing in the city, that is what we will follow. We are still asking on the difference between the 0.75 and 0.30 meters reduced social distancing. Is this effective? Will COVID-19 slow down after two weeks? What is the significance of this? I hope we will be informed by the national government of these things,” he added.

 

 

‘NOT URGENT’

In an interview with Aksyon Radyo Iloilo, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. admitted on Monday that he did not find any sense of urgency to implement the reduced social distancing standards in public transportation.

Defensor said that in their view, they may already be complying with the DOTr’s pronouncements, as they have been measuring the distances between seats based on seating capacity and not the distance between two passengers.

The governor’s Executive Order No. 183 mandates all public transport in the province to accommodate only 50 percent of its normal capacity.

“We haven’t received the guidelines yet, but we’ve heard the news. That is why we don’t have any sense of urgency in the compliance because in our view, when we measure the distance by the current standard which is the seating capacity, it wouldn’t be far off and we wouldn’t have to change much. Distancing in our public transport is based on the seating capacity, which is one seat apart, and not [measured] by meters. That’s the same with our buses. Let’s just look at how this will be operationalized,” Defensor said.

The governor also said that if the new policy anchors its bases on measured distance, they may start ordering new capacity standards in jeepneys and buses.

He cautioned, however, that the provincial government will seek to level off with the DOTr and the regional task forces on this matter.

“If that would be [the policy], then we would go back to the start and we would be measuring by meters already. If we operationalize that right now, we would have to follow that and measure the distance [by meters]. That is why we have to level off with the DOTr, the Regional Task Force and concerned agencies because if that’s new policy, then it seems there is nothing to be changed because it seems the same if you measure it. When you measure the seating capacity, what would be the real distance? Maybe it’s 0.75 [meters] or even shorter than that. When you ride the jeep, you try to measure the distance between yourself and the next person,” he said.