Transport drivers warned: Follow public health protocols
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police warned drivers of public utility vehicles or PUVs to ensure strict adherence to the minimum public health standards after it claimed to receive "continuous reports of blatant violations" in passenger buses and jeepneys.
Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief, said in a statement that police forces, particularly from the Highway Patrol Group and those assigned to man and supervise border control points have already been instructed to issue traffic violation tickets to the operators and drivers of PUVs.
In a memorandum issued to the Director of the HPG and the Regional Directors of the PNP in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon, the PNP Directorate for Operations ordered personnel to issue Temporary Operators Permit [as well as] Official Violator’s Receipt, and Traffic Citation Tickets to violators.
“This pertains to the reports received by the Directorate (for Operations), which disclosed unabated incidents of overloading, violations of minimum public health standards, and violations of allowed passenger capacity as prescribed by the [Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases] and DoTr’s guidelines committed by public utility buses and jeepneys, particularly in NCR Plus areas,” the memorandum by Police Maj. Gen. Alfredo Corpus read.
“We will be very strict in the implementation of this as part of our efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. This is why we remind operators and drivers of public transport to get organized if you don’t want to get caught,” said Eleazar.
The PNP chief said that these tickets will be issued if policemen would accost any passenger who does not properly wear face masks and if the PUVs are carrying passengers more than the maximum allowed passengers.
He added those manning and supervising the QCPs in Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces will be provided with the TOPs, OVRs and TCTs since part of their job is to check if the passing PUVs are complying with the rules on allowed passenger capacity and the minimum public health standards.
Part of the order, according to Eleazar, is for those manning the border control points or Quarantine Control Points to inspect all the passing buses and jeepneys and to ensure that the no travel policy on unauthorized persons outside residence is implemented.
“So we are appealing to the drivers to ensure that their passengers are complying with these rules because you will suffer when you are caught. You are the boss of the buses and jeepneys you drive so it is your obligation to make sure that your passengers follow the rules,” said Eleazar.
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Why does this matter?
HPG personnel have been conducting random checks in Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces and were directed to issue the same sanctions.
Amid the coronavirus-induced community quarantines, transport groups say that drivers have been made to pay for passengers who are caught not wearing masks or for other violations of quarantine protocols.
READ: In ECQ 'bubble', checkpoints for commuter safety harm hard-up drivers
The threat of tickets from the PNP also comes at a time when the service contracting funds meant to subsidize public transportation and support transport workers are expired after being underspent and hardly felt.
Stricter rules on the road mean jeepney drivers, who were once paid service contract subsidies by the government simply to ply their routes, will now have to rely again on the "boundary system" which depends on how many passengers they can bring in, which is limited to just 50% capacity — the limit imposed by quarantine rules.
Drivers and operators of public utility vehicles have said that having strict enforcers on the road has made some drivers skip their trips for the day altogether to avoid operating at a loss.
This, in turn, affects commuters who have trouble finding rides to work as the issuance of temporary operators permits will only lessen the already short supply of public transportation options available to the commuting public.
READ: Robredo laments low use of funds meant to subsidize public transportation
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