The Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Antique Provincial Police Office (APPO) will do a random inspection on the compliance of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) with minimum health protocols starting March 1.
LTO Antique provincial director Giovanni Gasapo in a joint meeting with the Antique Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and PUJ operators and drivers in the province on Friday explained the provisions of Memorandum Circular (MC) 2021-2189, issued on May 12, 2020, relative to the enforcement of the regulations in the general community quarantine (GCQ) area.
The circular provides that PUJs are only allowed to have a 50-percent seating capacity.
It means that a PUJ with a 22 seating capacity could only cater to 11 passengers at a time.
This is to maintain safe physical distancing, Gasapo said in an interview after the meeting.
“The PUJ operators and drivers in the province are very much willing to follow the regulations but that they were not sure about it that is why we had a meeting with them,” he added.
Under the circular, the passenger should pay directly to the conductor or driver, seats and handles of jeepneys have to be disinfected right after each trip to make sure that they are clean for the next set of passengers, there have to be non-permeable barriers in between passengers and PUJs should provide foot disinfectants.
Drivers, conductors, and passengers should wear face shields and masks at all times.
Violators will be meted with penalties to include PHP5,000 for the first offense, PHP10,000, and the vehicle will be impounded for 30 days for the second offense, and PHP15,000 with the cancellation of their Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) for the third offense.
Meanwhile, Antique IATF for Covid-19 spokesperson Margie Gadian said they will look into complaints of double charging by some PUJ drivers.
She said she will inquire with the Land Transportation and Franchising Board (LTFRB) Regional Office 6 what would be the prevailing fare rate.
“There are many complaints already that the PUJs are double charging the passengers,” she said. (PNA)
