Labor Dept. wants DOTr to increase PUV ridership to 70%

MANILA: The Department of Labor wants the capacity of public utility vehicles (PUVs)  upped to 70% in order to cope with the mobility demand of employees going back to work.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has asked the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to reduce the one-meter physical distancing policy implemented by the government so that PUVs can accommodate more passengers.

“Employees would like to report to work but there are no rides available. We are also requesting to allow more people inside public transportation, an increase in ridership of (up to) 70%,” said Bello.

Many workers and employees are using bicycles as their main mode of transportation after President Rodrigo Duterte maintained the one-meter policy in order to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.

Recently, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) began to lift restrictions on certain business establishments and have allowed them to operate up to 100% capacity in order to gradually revive the economy. In Memorandum Circular 20-52 issued last week, the DTI allowed businesses listed under Categories II and III in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) to operate at full capacity starting October 3.

“This is a big thing for our workers. We are for the proposal of (Trade) Secretary Ramon Lopez. I will support that. The most affected here are the workers, they have no jobs in the past months,” added Bello.

These businesses are mining and quarrying; financial services such as money exchange, insurance, reinsurance, lending companies, and non-compulsory pension funding; legal and accounting; management consultancy activities; architecture and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis; scientific and research development; and advertising and market research, just to name a few.

Photo from the LTFRB Facebook page

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