More bus trips in Luzon resume as COVID-19 curbs eased

VACATION SPOT | Bus trips between Baguio City and Metro Manila and other parts of Northern and Central Luzon are gradually increasing as health and travel restrictions are eased due to the continuous decline in COVID-19 cases nationwide.(EV ESPIRITU / INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON)

BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — Local transport companies have begun assessing their manpower and the condition of their buses and vans so they could reopen trips within the Cordillera region now that the provinces of Abra, Kalinga, and Apayao are under the least restrictive Alert Level 1 along with this city, an official said.

Lalaine Sobremonte, regional director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), said many homegrown and family-owned bus services, which operate small fleets of one to three units, have signified their intention to revive their businesses.

“They may need to hire back their drivers who had to look for other jobs when travel was restricted by the lockdowns and quarantines,” Sobremonte told the Inquirer on Wednesday.

She said some buses were put in storage to avoid paying regulatory fees during the months the companies were barred from plying their routes.

As of Wednesday, public transport operators had not indicated that they stopped operations, Sobremonte said, adding that this would entail surrendering their franchises.

Interregional bus lines serving the Cordillera need to secure quick response (QR) codes from the agency’s main office before they resume operations, she said.

Three major bus companies — Genesis, Victory Liner, and Solid North — have been cleared by the LTFRB’s main office to operate all units serving the Metro Manila-Baguio route, Sobremonte said.

BOARDING CHECK | Travel documents of passengers are checked before they are allowed to board buses in Baguio City. (EV ESPIRITU / INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON)

Heed protocols

“But they must also heed health protocols if these are needed at their destinations,” she said, so bus terminals in Baguio continue to operate their own triage.

In 2020, Baguio was the first city to open to leisure travel but had limited bus trips to only eight as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.

Since then, Baguio-bound trips have increased gradually, whether from Manila or from Olongapo City and Mariveles in Bataan, Sobremonte said.

Solid North recently sought permission to open their Cagayan Valley and Ilocos routes to Baguio which no longer sets a daily cap on leisure travelers.

During the quarantines, passenger vans had applied for limited trips to help ease movement between towns and provinces.

The LTFRB has so far approved van trips to Baguio from Lingayen town and San Carlos City in Pangasinan, and Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija, Sobremonte said.

The agency is processing permits for trips from Tayug and Rosales (Carmen) towns and Dagupan City in Pangasinan; Rosario town in La Union province; and Candon City in Ilocos Sur province, she said.

In Bulacan province, German Espiritu Bus Line, one of the oldest in the province, has been using eight of its 16 buses for trips to Cubao, Quezon City, since the company resumed its operations in October last year.

But the company’s 21 buses for its Divisoria, Manila, trips had not been allowed to operate by the LTFRB to reduce the number of people traveling to Divisoria, a popular market district.

Malanday Metrolink Bus Corp., which is based in Balagtas town, was temporarily given a permit by the LTFRB to ply the Balagtas-Monumento (Caloocan City) route when it was allowed to resume operations in June 2020.

But the company is using only 22 of its 116 buses, which are loading passengers at 70-percent capacity. Bicol

In the Bicol Region, the LTFRB said 28 buses bringing passengers from Legazpi City (Albay) to Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange in Metro Manila and back were allowed to resume trips after several areas in the country were placed under alert level 1.

Buses owned by the companies Alps, Bragais, Antonina, DLTB, Raymond, Peñafrancia, Superlines, Tantiado, and Bicol Isarog had been issued QR codes by the LTFRB after the operators complied with requirements.

The Land Transportation Office in Bicol, however, said there would be no changes in travel protocols in the region, as vehicle capacity would remain at 70 percent while passengers would need to wear face masks and observe distancing during the trip.

—REPORTS FROM VINCENT CABREZA, CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE, MICHAEL JAUCIAN AND MAR ARGUELLES

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