Lift train ban on seniors, stop discrimination — CHR exec

MANILA, Philippines – The ban against senior citizens boarding Metro Manila’s railway systems should be lifted as it appears to do more harm than good, an official of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said on Tuesday.

According to Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit who handles CHR’s affairs on the Human Rights of Older Persons, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) appears to misinterpret the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) rules.

Dumpit emphasized that IATF does not prohibit senior citizens to leave their homes especially if it is intended for essential services, as Metro Manila moves to a general community quarantine (GCQ).

“We call on the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to lift this ban as it has shown, particularly in this incident, that it does more harm than good. The ban is also a misinterpretation of the IATF Rules which does not prohibit older persons from going outside their homes if it is for essential services and goods or for work in the permitted industries,” she said in a statement.

“Simplistic interpretations of denial of essential services without due regard to the situations people face is discriminatory,” she added.

Previously, reports came out from ABS-CBN News that a senior citizen seeking to obtain the pension of his husband in San Juan was prevented from boarding the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), on the first day of the GCQ in the National Capital Region.

But even before the GCQ started, CHR also appealed to DOTr to revisit the ban on pregnant women and seniors as some of them may need to travel for important matters.

The ban on seniors originates from observations that their age bracket is most vulnerable to contracting the latest coronavirus strain.

“The objective to protect the more vulnerable sectors in this public health crisis with the strict implementation of physical distancing and hygiene protocols will be fulfilled alongside the practice of providing priority lanes and the designation of additional separate train cars for older persons and pregnant women,” Dumpit explained.

“We urge the DOTr and the MRT management to sensitize themselves to the circumstances of the riding public and orient their frontliners on the ground. We urge the riding public to report similar incidents to the DOTr.  The Commission on Human Rights has already dispatched its team to inquire further on the incident,” she added.

On Monday, Metro Manila moved from a modified enhanced community quarantine to a GCQ.  However, several glitches were found in the transition, such as the lack of available transport modes for workers, since train systems only allow 160 passengers per trip.