MANILA, Philippines — Allowing more public utility vehicles to ply their pre-pandemic routeswould alleviate the commuter crisis ahead of the return to face-to-face classes for millions of students in Metro Manila, a lawmaker urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Wednesday.
Much of public transportation was shuttered in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic in an effort to cut off possible transmission of the pathogen. But with the capital region under Alert Level 1, many of those same routes remain unserved to this day, which transport and commuter groups say severely cripple the existing public transport supply.
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In a statement sent to reporters, Sen. Grace Poe said doing so was "a viable solution to avert a commuter pandemonium when majority of the 28 million students, mixed with millions more workers, go out on the streets for a ride to their destinations and back home."
"While there are buses deployed, they run only in main thoroughfares and do not service the secondary roads where residences are usually situated," Poe said.
"We have had enough of scenes of dehumanizing conditions of commuters when they have to bear long lines, elbow their way to get inside a vehicle, stand up for hours in a bus or even hitch a ride."
Poe also called on the LTFRB to hasten its decision on letting more PUVs ply their traditional routes.
"Doing so would not only help augment transportation needed by our people but also provide a source of income to our drivers," she said.
READ: LIST: Public utility jeepney 'Libreng Sakay' routes no longer free in June
To recall, at least 135 routes being serviced under Libreng Sakay set up shop in end-June with jeepney drivers feeling the bite of skyrocketing fuel prices coupled with delayed payout of their service contracts.
Speaking in an interview aired over DZBB Super Radyo earlier Tuesday, LTFRB chair Cheloy Garafil said that the delayed payment was one of the issues raised in the LTFRB's recent meeting with Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista.
"Give us until the end of the month to fix the payout issues," she said in mixed Filipino and English.
"We also need to restore their old routes so they can continue riding again," Garafil also said when asked about the well-documented commuter crisis as of late.
But as of now, she said, there was "still no definite policy" on the previous LTFRB's move to ban provincial buses along EDSA.
READ: DOTr vows sufficient transport for students by looking at 'compliance,' free rides
Earlier survey results by transport advocacy network The Passenger Forum also found that 79% of respondents agree that their waiting time to get a ride is too long while 96% disagree that the number of public utility vehicles on the road is enough to service commuters.
The Passenger Forum has long been warning of another "shock" in the commuting crisis in Metro Manila with face-to-face classes coming soon to boost the demand for public transport on the road.
"Based on our record, only more than 200 buses are deployed on the busway during rush hour from the 440 buses that are supposed to be running here," Garafil also said in an earlier statement Monday.
— Franco Luna