LTFRB-7: 10 buses may ply Cebu City for MECQ

The LTFRB-7 or the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board has given special permits to 10 buses to ply the routes of Cebu City during this modified enhanced community quarantine period. | Contributed photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Only 10 buses have been given a special permit by the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) to ply the streets in Cebu City while it remains under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

LTFRB-7 Director Eduardo Montealto, Jr. told CDN Digital that although the MECQ guidelines stated that public transport was not yet allowed, the agency had to complement the Executive Order (EO) No. 84 of Mayor Edgardo Labella, which stated that malls and certain establishments would begin operate at a limited capacity.

Read full EO here: Executive-Order-No.-084

Opening the malls and other establishments would mean that workers would have to be able to reach their workplaces in case that their companies could not provide shuttle services.

Read more: Malls in Cebu City may open under MECQ but…

With this, the 10 buses will ply Cebu City’s route under strict observation and monitoring of the LTFRB-7 to ensure that Authorized Personnel Outside Residence (APOR) can go to work.

Montealto said that one of the mistakes they did under the general community quarantine (GCQ) last June 1 to June 15, 2020, was to allow more public transport to immediately ply the streets.

“We don’t want to make that mistake again. So as of now, while we are under the MECQ, we will only allow these 10 buses to travel with respect to social distancing,” he said.

Five of the buses will take the route of Consolacion town to Robinsons Galleria at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City, but they will also pass through the downtown areas such as the Osmeña Boulevard.

The other five buses will travel from Lantaw in Talisay City to Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City.

Read more: Augmented police forces to stay in Cebu City’s MECQ

Montealto reminded the public that only quarantine pass holders and APOR can ride the buses. Without the required documents, they may be apprehended when caught.

If there is a need to add more buses due to demand from the workforce, the LTFRB-7 will deploy more buses, but if there is a sudden rise of violators due to this available public transport, they will reduce the buses.

“Dili lang nato kalimtan nga MECQ gihapon ta. (Let us not forget that we remain under MECQ),” said Montealto. /dbs