IMMEDIATE family members of private motorcycle drivers are now allowed to backride, the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (Opav) said Wednesday, March 18, 2020.
In a statement, Opav Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino directed the Land Transportation Office (LTO)-Central Visayas, after a meeting with LTO 7 Director Victor Caindec, to allow backriders of private motorcycles provided that the rider is an immediate family member of the driver.
Immediate family includes the husband, wife and children who are living in the same household as the driver.
The backrider will have to present an identification card as proof of their relationship to the driver.
However, the directive is still subject to change and will have no effect should an Enhanced Community Quarantine be implemented in Central Visayas.
In a related development, the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has begun monitoring motorcycle drivers, especially those driving habal-habal and motorcycle taxis, to make sure the social distancing policy of the Department of Transportation is followed.
CCPO Director Police Colonel Engelbert Soriano, however, said there is no reason for a couple riding a motorcycle to practice social distancing since they are in the same household.
Last week, the CCPO prohibited habal-habal drivers from having backriders.
Soriano clarified that there will be no arrests for violators but the enforcers will get the driver’s name and the motorcycle’s plate number.
“This is on a case-to-case basis. There is always a humanitarian consideration,” said Soriano.
Delivery services
After Angkas announced the suspension of its passenger services in Cebu, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 Director Eduardo Montealto Jr. said it is okay for the ride-hailing company to do delivery services, excluding food.
Montealto said food delivery drivers have to undergo training on how to handle and deliver food.
He added that the LTFRB 7 will also monitor and admonish motorcycle taxis that still accept passengers despite the suspension of such service.
Montealto reminded the Transport Network Vehicle Services, like Grab, MiCab, Hirna and Hype, to carry only four passengers and practice social distancing.
He urged the public to report overcharging drivers to their 24/7 hotline 1342 and their email complaint.ltfrb.gov.ph@gmail.com.
Meanwhile, 13 minors and 20 adults were reprimanded and sent home by the police in accordance with the implementation of Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella’s Executive Order 52 placing the entire city under a general community quarantine.
Under the executive order, the City set up checkpoints, closed seaports, tasked barangay officers to conduct house-to-house monitoring, suspended all classes until April 14, imposed a curfew and encouraged flexible work hours.
Soriano said senior citizens were also seen outside their homes buying food.
He emphasized the need for senior citizens to stay in their homes since they have a higher risk of getting infected with Covid-19.
Soriano said there were already fewer people on the streets Tuesday night compared to the first night of the curfew last March 16 when police caught more than 200 people violating the curfew.
He added that were some employees from business process outsourcing companies who complained why they were stopped at the checkpoints.
Soriano said no one is exempted from the checkpoints and that everyone has to undergo a temperature check.
The CCPO has 11 checkpoint areas in the city’s limits where motorists are asked to present identification cards of the company they are working for in Cebu City.
Soriano urged the public to cooperate at the checkpoints to avoid causing traffic. (WBS, AYB, JCT)