Luzon quarantine: Essential workers to get free rides

WE WANT TO GO HOME Commuters jampack a jeepney to go home to Carmona in Cavite province on Monday night, shortly before the implementation of a monthlong quarantine in the entire Luzon to halt the spread of the new coronavirus. —REM ZAMORA

MANILA, Philippines — Army trucks and private buses will ferry essential workers to their workplaces during the monthlong quarantine of Luzon, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

The announcement followed reports of stranded commuters and confusion earlier in the day about how workers in businesses exempted from the quarantine would be able to report for work.

President Duterte on Monday ordered the expansion of the monthlong quarantine of Metro Manila to include the rest of Luzon, in a drastic bid to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

Mr. Duterte said he approved the expansion because a quarantine imposed on Sunday on Metro Manila’s 12 million people was riddled with exceptions that had failed to keep people away from one another.

If fully enforced, the expanded quarantine would mean most of the 55 million people in Luzon, which includes Metro Manila, would be housebound.

Edsa taxis held

Public transport is prohibi­ted during the quarantine and to show it means business, the police highway patrol group arrested 600 taxis on Edsa, turning three lanes of the southbound side of Metro Manila’s belt highway near the Quezon City-Mandaluyong boundary into a giant parking lot.

A few jeepneys ventured out, but Gen. Archie Gamboa, chief of the Philippine National Police, ordered his officers to arrest drivers and impound their vehicles.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said law enforcers could arrest anyone deemed flouting government orders during the quarantine.

He said violators of the two-year-old Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases could be fined P20,000 to P50,000 or imprisoned for up to six months.

Ride for workers

Transportation and trade officials, however, called on employers to provide shuttle service for their workers.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana directed the military to use its trucks to ferry stranded commuters, especially health workers and other people exempted from the ban.

They should be brought to their workplaces and to their homes after work, Panelo said.

He also said Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chief Danilo Lim had asked private bus companies to help transport essential workers.

The West Cavite Philippine Bus Operators Association and Jasper Jean Bus Liner started to deploy buses with the MMDA logo to provide free transportation for those exempted from the quarantine, he said.

“We commend these bus companies for their bayanihan spirit,” he said.

He also praised Avis Philippines for offering to transport people who were traveling abroad to the airport, as well as those arriving at the airport to their homes during the 72-hour grace period from the effectivity of the “enhanced community quarantine.”

“It is now in coordination with the MMDA and the PNP to consider its offer of help,” he added.

Panelo said others who could help during the crisis should do so.

“Everyone is called upon to rise to the challenges of these dangerous and extremely difficult phase of our history as a nation,” he said.

Malacañang is ready to respond to any problematic situation arising from the quarantine, he said, adding that any inconvenience was “minuscule and temporary” compared to the nation’s survival if the new coronavirus is beaten.

Shuttle service, housing

In a televised press briefing, Transportation Undersecretary Raul del Rosario said companies allowed to remain open should arrange shuttle service for their workers.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will provide permits or stickers to be placed on the vehicles to indicate that they are carrying essential workers, he said.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez urged companies to provide temporary housing for their workers near their offices so they did not have to travel far.

Local governments could also provide transportation for essential workers to ensure they would be able to report for work and return home, he said.

But he said the priority was for companies to provide shuttle services or housing for their workers.

Hospitals, medical clinics, pharmacies and drugstores, public markets, supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, food preparation and delivery services, water-refilling stations, manufacturing and processing plants for basic food products and medicines, banks, money transfer services, power, energy, water and telecommunications supplies and facilities are exempted from the quarantine.

Also exempted are business process outsourcing companies and export-oriented industries.

Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo proposed that the government deploy point-to-point (P2P) buses to transport employees of the exempted businesses.

“My suggestion is that [the] government pay existing P2P buses for the transport exclusively of exempted employees. They must be strictly guarded and those who are not exempted should not be allowed to board,” Quimbo said.

She said her proposal would be relatively easy to adopt because P2P buses had specific pickup and drop-off points as well as departure schedules, unlike regular jeepneys and buses.

Benefits

Quimbo also proposed cash transfers for “no work, no pay” workers.

“We hope the government can prepare a huge fund for social and economic protection measures,” she said.

Other lawmakers urged help for workers during the crisis.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Rep. Democrito Mendoza echoed calls urging private-sector employers to advance the 13th month pay of their employees to tide them over during the quarantine.

He also called on the government to provide a counterpart one-month tax holiday for companies to enable them to absorb the costs of the quarantine and prevent shutdowns.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez urged telecommunication companies to cut their rates for calls and text messages to ease the fears of homebound people.

He called on PLDT-Smart and Globe Telecom to offer reduced rates, including for data and broadband internet use.

—With reports from Jeannette I. Andrade, Consuelo Marquez, Dona Z. Pazzibugan, DJ Yap And AFP 

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