Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Friday the ban on jeepneys only applied to Metro Manila, and provinces could resume jeepney operations only if no other mode of transport was available.

“Nasa bottom pa rin ng hierarchy of transportation mode ang mga jeepneys; bagama’t sa mga probinsya… kung wala talagang bus at ibang mga pamamaraan ng transportasyon… pinapayagan naman ang mga jeepneys. Ang talagang isyu ay dito sa Metro Manila,” Roque said over Unang Hirit.

While previously the government mulled the hiring of jobless drivers as contact tracers, Roque said the government had come up with a more “viable” plan of hiring them for delivery services.

Transportation service Lalamove on Thursday announced its new partnership with Quezon City, which will provide jobs to the city’s displaced drivers.

The “LalaJeep” program has 200 jeepney drivers signed up so far.

The program was launched as the demand for delivery services rose, with online selling replacing most face-to-face transactions due to quarantine measures. John Ezekiel J. Hirro