LTO-7 offers free bus ride to pregnant women

CEBU CITY, Philippines –Pregnant women will no longer have to walk to the hospital for their scheduled checkups and other health concerns.

The Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) will be launching on Tuesday, April 14, its Buntis Sakay program “to provide transportation to pregnant women during this time of Enhanced Community Quarantine, where no public transportation is allowed to operate.”

“Free bus rides will be provided by the agency to all pregnant women needing transportation to get medical care,” said an advisory that was posted on the LTO Region VII Facebook page on Monday, April 13, 2020.

The free ride operates from Monday to Saturday.

LTO’s free ride program will include in its routes the St. Anthony Mother and Child Hospital located F. Gabuya St., Basak San Nicolas; the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Cebu Maternity Hospital along B. Rodriguez St.; Visayas Community Medical Center and the  St. Vincent Hospital that are both located along Osmena Boulevard; and the Cebu City Medical Center along Natalio Bacalso Avenue all located in Cebu City.

Each of the pregnant mothers will be allowed to travel with one companion.

An LTO designated bus will be parked at Star Mall Minglanilla and is scheduled to leave at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively. Said bus will passby Citi Hardware Bulacao, Mandaue Foam Pardo, Holy Cross Parish Church Basak Pardo, World Wide Home Depot N. Bacalso Ave., and Shell Gasoline Station V. Rama Ave.

Return trips are scheduled 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. form CCMC.  This will pass by the earlier mentioned hospitals to pick up the pregnant women who came from their medical checkups.

“The bus will also re-trace the earlier mentioned route, now going back to Star Mall Minglanilla passing by the earlier mentioned land marks to drop off the soon to be mothers near their homes,” the LTO advisory said. /bmjo