Your friendly neighborhood tricycle or jeepney will now operate seemingly like a commercial airplane. They would need to have a passenger manifest.
This is after Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Martin Delgra announced that all public utility vehicles (PUVs), such as jeepneys, taxis, buses, and other public transport, must need to keep a record of all passengers they transport, including their contact details.
Delgra made the announcement during the Laging Handa briefing on Monday, May 18. He said that the passenger manifest is to enable contract tracing in the event that a coronavirus-positive passenger took public transport. He added that this is part of the safety protocols in allowing the limited operations of PUVs in areas now under general community quarantine (GCQ).
“They need to have a manifesto of passengers, with their names and contact numbers…inside public vehicles,” Delgra said in Filipino.
He also asked passengers to keep a personal list of the PUVs they would ride in case they unknowingly rode with a coronavirus positive person.
Much of the country is under GCQ since May 16, where public transportation has been allowed but only at half their passenger capacity. Meanwhile, Metro Manila, Angeles City, Bataan, Bulacan, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Zambales were placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) while Cebu City and Mandaue City were placed under ECQ. (Rommel F. Lopez)