STARTING March 1, the Province of Cebu will resume full seating capacity in public transport, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022.
She said the continuing drop in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases called for less stringent regulations.
“And so after consultation with the LTFRB, the LTO, and of course, the PNP (Philippine National Police), and after a dialogue with the transport operators, I have decided that effective 12:01 a.m. of March 1, we will increase the capacity to full seating capacity. Seated only, and no jump seats. Regular seats (only),” Garcia told reporters.
The governor said air-conditioned buses would also be allowed to resume operations, subject still to regular disinfection and UV (ultraviolet) sterilization.
Garcia said the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) had offered their fogging machines “for additional disinfection.”
The governor said the wearing of face masks would continue, but the wearing of air purifiers by drivers and conductors would now be optional.
“But the Provincial Public Utility Vehicle Pass and the trip tickets will still continue to be strictly enforced. This will include taxis. You have the premium and the regular taxis. You have the vans, the mini buses, the buses and including the modern jeepneys that ply the provincial routes,” Garcia said.
The governor is poised to issue an executive order on this.
Commandments
LTFRB 7 Director Eduardo Montealto Jr. confirmed Thursday, Feb. 24, that starting next month, the agency would no longer apprehend drivers and conductors of public utility vehicles (PUVs) plying routes in Cebu Province that operate at full seating capacity.
“Sure na nga dili manakop pero sitting lang gyud. Dili mag-standing. Ug mga extension nga lingkuranan, bawal gihapon,” he said. (Sure we will no longer apprehend, but the passengers must be seated. No standing. And extension seats are still prohibited.)
Montealto, however, reminded the public to still adhere to the other commandments of the Department of Transportation when riding public transport.
He said the riding public, including the drivers and conductors, should wear their masks and avoid talking or making phone calls.
Still, no passengers with Covid-19 symptoms are allowed inside public transportation.
Urged to follow
Montealto also encouraged the three highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, to do the same pending the new resolution from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on the new alert levels for March.
“Depende ra na sa tri-cities kon mosunod sila sa (It would be up to the tri-cities if they will follow the Province),” he said, but stressed that it would be best to do so, citing the increase in income PUV drivers and conductors would gain, apart from no apprehensions.
On Aug. 4, 2021, Garcia had issued Executive Order (EO) 35-B, series of 2021 allowing only non-airconditioned public utility vehicles (PUVs) to operate within the Province of Cebu during the period of general community quarantine with heightened restrictions at a reduced seating capacity of 75 percent.
Air-conditioned PUVs were required to fully open their windows at all times, and all buses and minibuses plying the Province of Cebu were required to secure the Provincial Public Utility Vehicle Pass (PPUVP) from the Provincial Government to ensure their compliance with existing health and safety protocols.
The PPUVP contained the vehicle’s plate number and permitted seating capacity, among other things.
Under the EO, each bus or minibus leaving the Cebu North or South Bus Terminal was also to be issued a trip ticket that reflected its date of trip, trip route, maximum seating capacity, and actual number of passengers onboard.
On Aug. 13, 2021, Garcia issued a memorandum requiring all drivers and conductors of PUVs to wear personal purifiers at all times during their trip, effective Aug. 16, 2021.
In the same memorandum, Garcia allowed premium taxes to enter the north and south bus terminals to pick up and unload passengers beginning Aug. 14, 2021 provided they secured the Provincial Public Utility Vehicle Pass.
The PNP and the Highway Patrol Group were tasked to check the compliance of the PUVs with these requirements at checkpoints in strategic areas.
EO 35-B was issued at the height of the third wave of Covid-19 in Cebu driven by the deadly Delta coronavirus variant.
On Feb. 23, 2022, Cebu Province reported only 32 new Covid-19 cases, according to the Department of Health Central Visayas (DOH 7) Covid-19 bulletin.
The same bulletin placed the number of active Covid-19 cases in Cebu Province at 838.
Cebu Province, which comprises 44 towns and six component cities, has a population of over 3.3 million.
The DOH 7 bulletin also indicated that Cebu City had 1,015 active cases, Mandaue City had 159, while Lapu-Lapu City had 106 active cases.