Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor on Thursday, Dec. 2 called on the Metro Manila Development Authority to exempt from the vehicle number coding scheme medical professionals and other health personnel whether they are reporting for work or on their way home.

Defensor said there should be impediment for the health workers to immediately report for work and do their duty as the country remained under the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic .

“They should be exempted from this vehicle volume reduction scheme to allow them to do their job especially in case of emergencies,” said Defensor.

The administration lawmaker aired the appeal as the MMDA announced that the vehicle number coding scheme will return in order to ease the worsening traffic problem.

The coding rule applies daily from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., except on holidays and weekends.

Defensor said in the case of nurses and other hospital personnel on daytime duty, they should be permitted to go home immediately to their families after work without waiting for past 8 p.m.

“Those working in government hospitals usually end their duty at 5 p.m. They should be allowed to travel at once, if they have vehicles, and be with their loved ones, instead of passing time in their workplaces or in malls where they would be exposed to the highly infections new coronavirus and its variants,” he said.

For those on night shift, they should be permitted to go to their hospitals or health facilities during the three-hour period the vehicle coding scheme is in effect, he said.

“They do critical, life-and-death-related work in hospitals, which obviously cannot wait for three hours to be done,” he stressed.

The lawmaker-health advocate expressed confidence that MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos would heed his plea.

Defensor suggested that the MMDA should no longer require health workers to apply for an exemption.