Garganera: Metro Cebu cities must have uniform transportation protocols

Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, the city’s Emergency Operation’s Center head.  | Morexette Marie B. Erram

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is seeking a more synchronized protocol among the cities in Metro Cebu especially with regards to transportation.

EOC deputy chief implementor, Councilor Joel Garganera, said that they have noticed a disparity between the maximum capacity of public utility vehicles (PUV) in Cebu City from its neighboring local government units (LGUs).

This has proven difficult for the city’s enforcers to apprehend inter-city PUVs as the drivers are able to show documents that they can carry up to 70 percent of their original capacity.

This is higher than the maximum capacity allowed for PUVs in Cebu City at 50 percent.

Furthermore, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has its own policy allowing buses and modern jeepneys to carry maximum seating capacity as long as there are plastic barriers between passengers.

The differences in the policies can be difficult for Cebu City which is now trying to control the rising trend of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in its midst.

The city currently has 773 active cases as per EOC records with 29 new cases recorded on July 5, 2021.

In a virtual conference on Tuesday, July 6, 2021, Garganera said that the city is working double-time to coordinate all sectors and reinforce the necessary measures to prevent a further rise in the cases.

“Nahuman na tag meeting sa transportation, we really need to address the tri-cities and even sa province. Kay for an example, nikarga dira sa Parkmall, 70 percent, nya ig sulod sa Cebu City kay 50 percent ra ang pwede. Even LTFRB has its own set of rules. Libog ba, wala tay naghiusa nga protocol,” said Garganera.

The councilor said that he will be recommending a uniform transportation capacity for the neighboring cities in their meeting with the tri-cities this evening in hopes to convince the other LGUs of a more unified policy.

The adaptation of the Interagency Task Force (IATF) policy for allowing vaccinated individuals in the city will also be discussed in tonight’s meeting.

Rising cases

The rising cases in Cebu City are not yet in an alarming state, but the EOC is already taking precautions starting with disallowing church services in sitio-based chapels.

The Archdiocese of Cebu released an advisory to Cebu City parishes on July 6, 2021, advising them to cease services in these chapels for the entire month of July.

“After a coordination meeting this morning with the Cebu City Emergency Operations Center, it was agreed that for this MONTH of JULY, Chapel Masses, particularly Novena, Fiesta, and Monthly Masses, are temporarily suspended due to the rising CoVid cases in Cebu City. This is just one of the major changes in our Liturgical Health Protocols to be implemented in Cebu City parishes.”

“A Circular on the liturgical changes for Cebu City parishes will be issued this week. By the end of the month, there will be an assessment on said changes and we will wait for further information,” said the advisory.

The EOC has identified the workplace as the current high-risk area for transmission of the virus. A rise in positive cases among medical workers has also been noted with all of them already placed under isolation. ###

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