ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider DOTr announces expanded free bus service with 14 routes for health workers

DOTr announces expanded free bus service with 14 routes for health workers

Published Mar 21, 2020 12:00 am
By Alexandria San Juan 
More health workers and other frontliners in Metro Manila will be able to avail of the government's free rides to hospitals as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) expanded its free bus service to 14 routes during the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine over Luzon.
Department of Transportation (MANILA BULLETIN) Department of Transportation (MANILA BULLETIN)
 
The free bus service was launched by the DOTr last Tuesday in line with Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade's directive to help ferry health workers who are at the frontlines of the country's fight against the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
 
From only three routes during its initial deployment, the DOTr said the free bus service now serves health workers on the following 14 routes:
 
Northwest Area Revised Route 1 Meralco (Malanday)* Valenzuela City General Hospital MCU Hospital (Monumento)* Caloocan City Medical Center Tondo General Hospital Our Lady of Fatima Metropolitan Medical Center San Lazaro Hospital Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center University of Sto. Tomas Hospital Chinese General Hospital United Doctors Medical Center (Welcome Rotonda)* Northwest Area Revised Route 2 Valenzuela Gateway Complex* Quezon City General Hospital Balintawak* MCU Hospital (Monumento)* Our Lady of Fatima University Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center Philippine Orthopedic Center United Doctors Medical Center (Welcome Rotonda)* Northeast Area Revised Route 3 SM City SJDM (Bulacan) Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial (Caloocan) SM Fairview* Diliman Doctors Hospital Veterans Memorial Medical Center Lung Center of the Philippines Philippine Heart Center East Avenue Medical Center Philippine Children’s Hospital Centris Station (EDSA / Quezon Ave.)* East Area Route 4 SM City Masinag* Marikina Valley Medical Center Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center BFCT East Metro Transport Terminal* Quirino Memorial Medical Center Araneta Center Bus Terminal Robinsons Galleria* The Medical City – Ortigas East Area Route 5 Ortigas Hospital & Healthcare (Cainta)* SM City East Ortigas Pasig City General Hospital The Medical City Ortigas Robinsons Galleria* VRP Medical Center St. Luke’s Medical Center* Rizal Medical Center Central Area Revised Route 6 Centris Station (EDSA / Quezon Ave.)* Providence Hospital Capitol Medical Center Philippine Orthopedic Center (Banawe) United Doctors Medical Center (Welcome Rotonda)* National Children’s Hospital De Los Santos Medical Center St. Luke’s Medical Center (E. Rodriguez) UERM Memorial Medical Center MRT-3 Cubao / Araneta Center* Central/East Area Revised Route 7 Pasig City General Hospital Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral* Pasig Rotonda Rizal Medical Center The Medical City (Ortigas) Robinsons Galleria* Cardinal Santos Medical Center VRP Medical Center National Center for Mental Health Makati Medical Center* Southeast Area Revised Route 8 Starmall – Alabang* SLEX Sucat Exit* Bicutan Exit Makati Medical Center* St. Luke’s Medical Center – BGC* Southwest Area Route 9 Vista Mall, Daang Hari* Perpetual Help Medical Center (Las Piñas) Las Piñas General Hospital Baclaran Market* San Juan de Dios Educational Medical Center Pasay City General Hospital Adventist Medical Center Makati Medical Center* Philippine General Hospital Manila Doctors Hospital United Doctors Medical Center (Welcome Rotonda)* Southeast Area Route 10 Feeder route Research Institute for Tropical Medicine-RITM* Asian Hospital and Medical Center Muntinlupa City Hospital Starmall – Alabang* Southeast Area Route 11 Starmall – Alabang* SLEX Sucat Exit* Bicutan Exit San Juan de Dios EFI – Hospital Gil Puyat Station LRT-1* Philippine General Hospital Manila Doctors Hospital Southeast Area Route 12 SM Molino Imus Transport Plaza Las Piñas General Hospital and Satellite Trauma Center Baclaran Market* San Juan de Dios Educational Foundation Hospital Gil Puyat* Adventist Medical Center Manila Philippine General Hospital* Manila Doctors Hospital* South Area Route 13 Seaoil Imus Daang Hari/Aguinaldo Imus Transport Terminal* Las Piñas General Hospital Perpetual Help Medical Center Research Institute for Tropical Medicine-RITM* Asian Hospital and Medical Center Muntinlupa Hospital Starmall Alabang*
East Area
Route 14  
SM City Taytay SM City East Ortigas The Medical City (Ortigas) Robinsons Galleria* (East Area Routes 4, 5, and Central/East Area Route 7 Transfer Point) Cardinal Santos Medical Center SM City Sta. Mesa De Los Santos Medical Center St. Luke’s Medical Center (E. Rodriguez)
*Pick-up/Transfer point
 
The DOTr's free rides, consisting of 72 buses and two modern public utility vehicles, will transport passengers to these designated routes and vice versa at 5 a.m., 7 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., and 7 p.m.
 
The Department said these routes are still subject to change depending on the data and requests coming from the Department of Health (DOH).
Transport officials also clarified that the free ride service is not restricted to doctors and nurses only, but is also available for other hospital workers such as administrative personnel, utility workers, security officers, and other health workers such as pharmacists, caregivers, and the like. Tugade gave the assurance that the bus service will comply with containment protocols laid out by health authorities, including the observance of social distancing, body temperature checks, and regular disinfecting of vehicles, while drivers and health workers will be given food and water. The DOTr chief also urged other regions in Luzon to adopt the same bus service scheme while the enhanced community quarantine is being enforced.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.