Buses of fully-jabbed passengers pushed
In its continuous backing to safely reopen the economy, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion is pushing for the use of buses that would only accommodate fully vaccinated passengers.
Concepcion said that this was proposed by his group during his recent consultation with the transport sector last 21 July.
The move is aimed to increase capacity and augment mobility as the country safely re-opens the economy.
“This is very crucial as this will complement our previous request to Health Secretary Duque and IATF-EID (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) on the proposal of micro-herd immunity and “safe spaces,” where office buildings with 80 percent fully-vaccinated employees will be allowed to increase operational capacity of up to 100 percent from the current 50 percent,” Concepcion said.
Further, Concepcion added that their main objective is to ensure that every passenger can safely traverse from their homes to workplaces, and vice-versa.
“Buses with fully-vaccinated passengers will give greater confidence to the commuting public and as the private sector is able to achieve micro herd immunity in the workspaces such as in our buildings, safe transport will also be assured from the home to workplace,” he added.
Concepcion has been consulting various sectors, such as the mall and building owners, salons, restaurants and retail, among others to create a Roadmap towards the Next Normal.
“Since we are highly expectant of population protection — and ‘micro-herd immunity in workplaces — in the goal of attaining herd immunity, it then raises the question: How are we going to provide safe, hassle-free transportation to our employees returning to work?” With this, Concepcion emphasized the significance of crafting solutions at the soonest possible time as part of preparing to cater employees who are starting to step out of their usual work-from-home mode,” Concepcion maintained.
Dialogue welcome
Meanwhile, Nagkakaisang Samahan ng Nangangasiwa ng Panlalawigang Bus sa Pilipinas Inc. president Atty. Vincent Rondaris welcomed the dialogue and expressed his gratitude to Concepcion, saying the discussion provided an avenue for the transport sector to finally be able to air their concerns.
“We feel that we are a forgotten sector and we know that we perform a very critical service to our people.” said Rondaris, who shared how the transportation sector remains badly hit by the pandemic as the lockdowns and current policies have kept most public transportation units off the road.