PNP starts crackdown vs PUVs violating public health standard rules

Police forces manning the border control points in Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces have been ordered to issue traffic violation tickets to drivers of Public Utility Vehicles (PUVs) who would be caught violating quarantine rules that include public health standard and maximum allowed passengers.

Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and other area commanders were also instructed to conduct random inspections of PUVs, particularly buses and jeepneys.

Eleazar said the move is in response to the numerous complaints they have been receiving about PUVs that directly defy the order of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) on minimum public health standards, particularly on the number of allowed passengers.

“We will be very strict in the implementation of this as part of our efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Kaya pinapaalalahanan natin ang mga operator at driver ng mga pampublikong sasakyan na umayos kayo kung ayaw ninyong mahuli (So we are reminding the drivers and operators to strictly follow these rules if you don’t want to be apprehended),” said Eleazar.

Aside from the National Capital Region (NCR), the issuance of Temporary Operators Permit (TOPs), Official Violator’s Receipt (OVR) and Traffic Citation Tickets to the violators will be in effect in Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, collectively known as NCR Plus.

Eleazar said the directive was already issued through a memorandum from the PNP Directorate for Operations.

“This pertains to the reports received by the Directorate (for Operations), which disclosed unabated incidents of overloading, violations of minimum public health standards, and violations of allowed passenger capacity as prescribed by the IATF and DoTr’s (Department of Transportation) guidelines committed by public utility buses and jeepneys, particularly in NCR Plus areas,” the memorandum signed by Police Maj. Gen. Alfred Corpus read.

Eleazar explained that those manning and supervising the QCPs in Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces will be provided with the TOPs, OVRs and TCTs since part of their job is to check if the passing PUVs are complying with the rules on allowed passenger capacity and the minimum public health standards.

He said the tickets will be issued if policemen would accost any passenger who does not properly wear face masks and if the PUVs are carrying passengers more than the maximum allowed passengers.

Part of the order, according to Eleazar, is for those manning the border control points or Quarantine Control Points to inspect all the passing buses and jeepneys and to ensure that the no travel policy on non-APOR (Authorized Persons Outside Residence) is implemented.

“So we are appealing to the drivers to ensure that their passengers are complying with these rules because you will be the ones who would suffer the consequences if you fail to observe the rules inside your respective PUVs,” said Eleazar.