MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte decided to maintain the one-meter physical distancing in public transportation amid the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) proposal to reduce it, his spokesperson Harry Roque said.
In an interview with PTV4 over the weekend, Roque said aside from social distancing, public transportation riders must still wear face masks and face shields and must avoid talking and eating while inside the vehicles.
The one-meter physical distancing in public transport was reduced to 0.75 meters beginning Sept. 14 to increase passenger capacity to help revive the economy but it was suspended following calls from experts who warned of increased risk of coronavirus disease transmission.
With Duterte’s decision, the DOTr said it would “aggressively comply and strictly enforce” it even if it would equate to less than half of the capacity of most public utility vehicles (PUV).
“The President has spoken. We shall aggressively comply and strictly enforce the one-meter physical distancing in all public transport as envisioned and mandated,” DOTr assistant secretary Goddes Hope Libiran said.
The Department of Health also supported Duterte’s decision with spokesperson undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire saying that the one-meter distance protocol was based on the minimum health standards.
“Kapag ikaw ay nagsuot ng mask, you can have about 67-percent protection from being infected. Kapag nagsuot ka ng face shield nadadagdagan pa ng porsyento para ikaw ay maprotektahan. Kapag sinamahan mo pa ng physical distancing itong dalawang minimum health standards, tumataas hanggang 99 percent ang proteksyon mo sa virus,” Vergeire said.
“We comply with minimum health standards pero hindi puwedeng paisa-isa, kailangan magkakasama lahat ‘yan,” she added./PN
