“We call on transportation officials to continually make a data-driven assessment on the demand for transportation as businesses slowly reopen with the easing up of quarantine,” Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Service said while reminding the Department of Transportation (DOTr) that current transport problems are a “burden on commuting workers.”
“Wag nating hayaan na lamang na walang kitain ang ating mga kababayan sa kawalan ng masasakyan, o mapunta ang kanilang mas maliit na kita sa mas mahal na uri ng transportasyon sa gitna ng kawalan nila ng pagpipilian,” she said.
[We should not let our countrymen lose their income just because they could not come to work, or lose a chunk of their income due to expensive and limited transportation options.]
The DOTr responded with a statement and said that it is “doing everything within its power to come up with viable transport solutions which will be most beneficial to the riding public amid this COVID-19 pandemic and its challenges and restraints.”
On June 1, Metro Manila and several regions were eased into general community quarantine that allowed several businesses to reopened and workers to go back to their jobs. However, transport options remain limited, leaving employees to fend for themselves on the roads.
