Jeepneys will be allowed on the streets next week after a three-month ban following quarantine protocols implemented by authorities due to COVID-19 pandemic, Chairman Martin Delgra of the Land Transportation and Franchising and Regulatory Board said Friday.
READ: UV Express, jeeps back next week
Delgra said this a day after presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases had yet to approve the return of jeepneys, which the government views as a risk for getting COVID-19 since passengers sit face-to-face inside it.
Buses and modern public utility vehicles have been allowed to ply the streets to serve commuters since June 1, and based on the hierarchy set by the government, UV Express and jeepneys will only be allowed to operate if there is not enough public transportation available.
READ: Transport crisis seen to worsen with jeeps idled
In a radio interview, Delgra said beginning Monday, UV Express vans would ply 30 routes for its initial resumption of operation.
While the LTFRB has yet to decide on how many routes and units of traditional jeepneys will return in Metro Manila, he said the iconic mode of public transportation would return within the same week as the UV Express.
Meanwhile, he said more routes of modern jeepneys have opened on Friday, bringing the total routes of modern jeepneys to 38 since they returned to the streets of Metro Manila this week.
This, after route 10, or the Cubao-Doroteo Jose city bus route, opened on Wednesday which completes the 31 planned city bus routes of the LTFRB for the duration of the general community quarantine in the region.
On Thursday, the DOTr also announced that the four rail lines in Metro Manila—the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1), LRT-2, Metro Rail Transit Line 3, and the Philippine National Railways—had transported a total of 2.8 million passengers from June 1 to 21.
Aside from these modes of public transportation, taxis, transport network vehicle services, point-to-point buses, and tricycles (in some areas) have also resumed operations since June, with provincial buses remaining to be the only mode of public road transportation with no definite plan for resumption.
In the Senate, Senator Grace Poe said traditional jeepneys that have passed the roadworthiness test should be allowed to ply their routes to augment the transportation needs of commuters in Metro Manila as it transitions to a more relaxed quarantine.
Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services, said jeepney units that would be back on the road should also be compliant with safety and health protocols to limit the risk of the COVID-19 transmission.
She said commuters were experiencing daily distress in getting to their destination because of the apparent lack of public utility vehicles on the road and the fewer capacity they can accommodate as part of social distancing.
“The LTFRB was saying that they will come out with 1,500 modern jeepneys next week. The total number of jeeps in Metro Manila is 60,000. How can they say we need to study what is lacking?” Poe said.
“I have been saying that as long as the jeepneys are roadworthy, they should be allowed to ply their routes. Dilapidated, smoke belchers and jeepneys which are no longer safe should not be allowed on the road,” she said.
The Land Transportation Office should conduct a thorough and honest examination of the jeepneys to determine if they are compliant with safety standards, the senator said.
Poe said she was not against the jeepney modernization program, but it should not brush aside legitimate concerns aired by the drivers, who have been without income for over three months now due to the quarantine.
She emphasized it would not be humane to insist on jeepney modernization especially that many of our jeepney drivers are starving,” she said.
“Many were saying that the jeepney phase-out and modernization is wrong timing since the government needs to give help because many lost their jobs,” she said.
READ: Government eyes jeep phaseout
Last year, Poe filed Senate Bill 867 seeking a “just and humane public utility vehicle modernization program” to balance the need for safer, more environmentally-sound public transport with the rights of those whose livelihood depends on it.
The bill provides for loan subsidy to jeepney drivers, the interest rate on loan amortization not exceeding four percent which will be payable in 15 years.
It also states that drivers who can no longer take part in the program shall be given a reasonable amount of financial assistance to enable them to venture into other livelihoods.
READ: Groups slam jeepney phaseout, Palace says options up for some
