MANILA, Philippines— Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan has criticized the government’s “height of insensitivity” when it allowed commuters to suffer during Monday’s start of the general community quarantine (GCQ) in the metropolis.
Due to lack of transportation, many commuters were reportedly forced to walk or hitch rides just to get to their offices.
“It is the height of insensitivity for the government to let the commuters fend for themselves on how to get to work. Kahit paano tignan, sa bilyon-bilyon na ginagasta ng gobyerno, hindi ito tama,” Pangilinan said in a statement on Tuesday.
(It is the height of insensitivity for the government to let the commuters fend for themselves on how to get to work. No matter how you look at it, this is not right considering the billions of pesos being spent by the government)
“Yung new normal dapat better normal, lalong-lalo na sa mga commuter, sa mga walang sariling sasakyan, sa mga nakaasa sa mga padyak, tricycle, jeep, bus, at tren. Yung new normal, hindi dapat ‘yung mas malala pa dun sa iniwan.
(The new normal should be a better normal, especially to commuters, to those who have don’t have cars, to those only relying on tricycles, jeeps, buses, and trains. The new normal should not have been worse than before)
Pangilinan compared the plight of poor commuters to that of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo) workers, who are being transported to and from their workplace.
Last month, the government gave the Pogo industry a go-signal to partially resume their operations, although the Bureau of Internal Revenue later asked them to settle first their tax obligations.
Pangilinan lamented that the shift to a more relaxed GCQ should have been complemented with “adequate means of transportation to ferry the people to their destination.”
He then urged the government to immediately act and address the problem by providing more public utility vehicles (PUVs) and allowing more routes for the commuting public.
“Hindi na dapat hintayin pa ng mga transportation official ang tinatawag na modified GCQ sa June 21. Kailangang kumilos ngayon din,” the senator said.
(We should not wait for the so-called modified GCQ on June 21. We have to act now)
“It is perilous enough for many of our workers to brave the streets amid the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s not exacerbate their sufferings by not providing them the means to reach their destination,” Pangilinan added.
Starting June 1, mass transportation has been partially permitted to operate in areas placed under GCQ, but the government plans to allow more PUVs after June 21.