By Joseph B.A. Marzan
A local alliance of jeepney operators and drivers in Iloilo City called on the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to clarify the latest guidelines set by the national government on public transportation.
The call was in connection to Resolution No. 94 of the national Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), which was issued on January 14.
The Resolution amended Section 5(8) of the current Omnibus Guidelines of the IATF-MEID, saying that road, rail, and aviation sectors of public transportation in areas under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) shall be allowed to operate “at such capacity” and following protocols as provided by the DOTr.
Raymundo “Boyet” Parcon, President of the Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Associations (ICLAJODA), told Aksyon Radyo Iloilo on Saturday that they have yet to be informed of any changes by the regional offices of the DOTr or the LTFRB.
Parcon added he had been contacting LTFRB Region 6 Director Richard Osmeña, but the latter has yet to respond.
“As of this time, there has been no information from the LTFRB, maybe because it’s a Saturday, a family day. We haven’t [gotten anything] because we have been contacting the RD [Osmeña] but so far we don’t have any response. For us here, we hope they can act on this and clarify on the IATF resolution,” Parcon said.
He added that in the meantime, ICLAJODA members would continue enforcing either the “one-seat-apart” rule or the “50% capacity” rule.
The ICLAJODA initially enforced both rules after the Iloilo City government pleaded with them to slightly increase capacity to avoid crowding at waiting stops.
But Parcon said drivers were already expressing confusion over the new rule because of the lack of clarification from national government authorities.
“For now, we are implementing [the one-seat-apart rule] and the 50% rule. Our drivers are currently panicking because they don’t understand and we can’t explain to them and the IATF does not have a specific response yet, what they only put was ‘such capacity’, but we cannot move, and we are just waiting on what the orders of the DOTr are. At least, what is important for everyone is that we follow the health protocols by the [Department of Health] and our LTFRB here,” he said.
Daily Guardian also reached out to LTFRB-6 Director Osmeña on Sunday, but he has yet to respond as of this writing.
