Groups appeal to Duterte: Maintain one-meter distancing in public transport
MANILA, Philippines — Think tanks and civil society groups on Thursday called on President Rodrigo Duterte to maintain the one-meter physical distancing required on public transportation as he mulls a possible reduction pushed by the Department of Transportation.
This comes after the Palace announced that the earlier policy of reducing the required physical distancing in public utility vehicles from one meter to 0.75 meters would be revoked for the time being to allow President Rodrigo Duterte to decide on the matter himself.
His decision is expected to come on Monday, according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
In their joint statement addressed to the chief executive, the coalition, which also consisted of NGOs, medical collectives, and labor centers, warned the national government about the harm that reducing physical distancing poses to commuters undermines its goal of facilitating economic recovery.
"Ultimately, the poor and the working class will bear the brunt of these new infections arising from the reduction of social distancing. We believe that such a policy is anti-worker and anti-poor," the coalition's joint statement read.
"From the very beginning of the pandemic, the poor and the working class have been the most badly hit. Dependent on daily wages to put food on the table, they have borne the burden of our country’s economic collapse. Reducing physical distancing only puts their lives at further risk," it also said.
The original proposal to gradually reduce the distancing to 0.75 meters and later to half a meter was made by transportation officials with the capacity increase in mind, they said, though the idea drew the fervor of multi-sectoral groups and other government agencies almost immediately after it was announced.
Citing figures from the Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19, health chief Francisco Duque warned at a Palace briefing that shortening the required distance between passengers from one meter to 0.75 meters could possibly result in 686 additional coronavirus cases recorded per day.
The groups also reiterated calls for the coronavirus task force and the transportation department to increase the supply of PUVs to accommodate more commuters and prevent overcrowding, providing active transport infrastructure such as protected bike lanes, and allow staggered work hours and work from home arrangements.
"Policymakers need to be aware of the importance of sequencing in managing the pandemic: flatten the curve first, then consider the relaxation of social distancing. We emphasize that there is no tradeoff between protecting health and recovering the economy. This policy of reducing physical distancing will only end up further damaging the economy as it harms the health of our workers," the statement also said.
"Facilitating economic recovery is useless if we do not protect the lives of our workers, the backbone of our economy. We call on our fellow Filipinos to support this call to protect our workers and the poor. Rather than making the poor and the working class the sacrificial lamb to recover the economy, we urge the government to practice empathy with those whose lives they are putting at risk and maintain the 1-meter physical distancing rule in the public transportation sector."
As of the health department's latest case bulletin, there are still over 63,000 active cases of the coronavirus, while the new pathogen has so far sickened 276,289 people in the Philippines.
The statement was signed by the following signatories:
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