MANILA, Philippines— Let public utility vehicles resume operations for the sake of thousands of PUV drivers and the commuting public.
Senator Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. issued the appeal on Friday, citing the “unimaginable challenges” commuting workers endured when parts of the country, including Metro Manila, shifted to general community quarantine on June 1.
“Baka naman pwedeng i-consider ang pagbalik pasada ng ating mga public utility vehicles,” Revilla said in a statement.
(Maybe we can consider allowing public utility vehicles to resume operations)
“We hit two birds with one stone — matutugunan natin ang pangangailangan ng publiko sa transportasyon habang ibinabalik ang hanapbuhay ng mga namamasadang natengga ng halos tatlong buwan,” he said.
(We hit two birds with one stone — we can address the public’s transportation requirements while giving back the livelihood of PUV drivers who have been displaced for almost three months.)
The senator believes the transportation sector is now ready to resume operations and comply with health and safety guidelines.
Revilla asked the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to immediately review its public transportation policy, warning that the lack of safe mass transportation services may trigger the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Revilla added that it would be unfair to require private businesses recovering from the pandemic to provide shuttle services to their employees.
He noted that 85 percent of businesses in the country are micro, small and medium enterprises that have no capability to incur huge capital expenditures coming out of the enhanced community quarantine.
“Ang isang shuttle van na magcocomply sa social distancing, mga pito ang maisasakay, halos two million pesos ang isa. Hindi kaya ng mga nagrerecover na businesses yang ganyang kalaking gastos at this time,” he pointed out .
(One shuttle van can only carry some seven passengers with social distancing protocols. Each unit costs around P2 million each. Businesses that are still recovering from the pandemic cannot afford to spend that huge amount at this time)
GSG