Malacañang said it would be hard to suspend the operations of the Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3) despite the rising number of personnel being infected by COVID-19 because it is one of the modes of transportation used by the people amid the pandemic.
The infection situation, however, is concerning, the Palace said.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) reported on Sunday that the number of MRT-3 personnel that caught the diseases reached 172.
In his Monday presser, Roque stressed the need to provide the public transportation so they can go to work.
"Habang tayo po ay nagbubukas ng ekonomiya, kinakailangan talaga nating palawigin pa yung ating public transportation dahil hindi naman makakarating sa trabaho yung mga magtratrabaho na (While we are opening the economy, we need to expand our public transportation or else workers won't get to their jobs)," he said.
"It’s a matter of disinfecting the MRTs. Kung maayos na po yung mga sigalot sa technical operations, pupuwede naman pong bumalik yan sa 50 percent capacity (If the issue on technical operations will be fixed soon, then the trains can operate at 50 percent capacity again)," he added.
According to Roque, the DOTr may have new policies in Metro Manila's railways after over the infection.
"Tingin ko po magkakaroon ng bagong polisiya sila na itetest muna talaga ang kanilang mga drivers at ticket vendors kung may sakit sila bago sila patrabahuhin. magagawa naman po ito sa rapid test (I think they will have new policies wherein they will first subject the drivers and ticket vendors to rapid testing before allowing them to work)," he said.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Transportation assistant secretary Goddes Libiran said 39 of the 45 new cases are depot personnel while the remaining are station employees.
The trains were the first mode of transportation allowed by the government to operate when Metro Manila graduated from the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). The train lines were allowed to resume operations at 30 percent capacity and were augmented by buses that ply the same route.
However, the management of MRT-3 announced last week that it would deploy fewer trains after reporting that 127 personnel caught COVID-19.