THE Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has directed the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to work with concerned agencies to craft guidelines in anticipation of the resumption of public transportation operations Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said on Thursday.
Roque said the DOTr was directed to work with the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Tourism, Department of Health, and the Bureau of Quarantine to conduct a study and come up with best applicable protocols once mass transportation is allowed to resume when the April 30 Luzon lockdown ends.
He said the protocol shall apply to air, land and sea modes of transportation. “Of course, subject to existing protocols and guidelines on social distancing, isolation and quarantine,” he added.
Operations of public transportation when the enhanced community quarantine took effect in the entire region of Luzon last March 17.
Roque said under a proposal to partially lift the Luzon-wide lockdown and just implement the quarantine in select areas, operations of public transportation would be allowed in places classified as “low risk” and “moderate risk” areas.
BARRED TELCOS
The entire government system is depending on uninterrupted internet connection but the people who are doing the heavy lifting keeping the lines humming are having a hard time doing their job.
Department of Information and Communications Technology Information Services director Aida Yuvienco and DICT deputy spokesperson Adrian Echaus said the agency and the National Telecommunications Commission have received complaints of technical people being stopped at checkpoints and denied access to telecom facilities.
This even after the government has repeatedly clarified that telco maintenance and service personnel as well as those from internet service providers are counted as frontline service providers who are exempt from the travel restriction while the enhanced community quarantine is in effect.
Aside from regular police and military checkpoints, the telco service employees have likewise reported problems with local government units and gated communities.
“The NTC is appealing to these checkpoint personnel, LGUs and homeowners’ associations to let the technical people have access to their worksite so they can do their jobs. Do not stop maintenance and service personnel. They are performing a critical function in ensuring availability of internet and mobile service during this pandemic,” Echaus said.
With much of government communications being carried out online and on mobile gadgets, the DICT officials said emergency response and other vital programs maybe hampered if the telecoms systems are not properly maintained.
Echaus said access to data is now considered a basic right which is why telecommunications and ISP personnel were granted exemptions under the ECQ including maintenance and sales.
“The DICT has instructed the DICT to closely monitor the telcos and internet service providers and ensure continued reliable service and sufficient bandwidth allocation,” he added.
Yuvienco said rollout of free Wi-Fi installations is being stepped up with emphasis on quarantine facilities.
This month, she said eight of these facilities and five COVID-19 testing centers have been given free Wi-Fi connections.
On the other hand, the DICT has also joined the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice and the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) to form Task Force COVID Kontra Peke in a bid to stop the proliferation of misinformation.
RESHAPING GLOBAL MARKETS
International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) executive vice president Christian Gonzalez said the country’s import and export traders should start looking at alternative markets in light of the much-changed condition of the global supply chain in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gonzalez said traditional sources of products were also hit by the slowdown of commerce. “They have to understand the limitations of any country. Just this morning, I read that meat production in the United States of America is down so we expect a shortage from that end. For those who were importing critical meat items, food items from the US, it’s about time to look elsewhere,” the port executive said.
He mentioned China and other countries in Southeast Asia as likely options, noting that a recalibration of the supply chain means there will no longer be undue reliance on a just a few suppliers in the market.
“My recommendation is to rethink our sources because it is not just us who is looking for solutions to our problems, where to get our supply of critical essential items. We are competing with the rest of the world, so we need to act on that and we need to stop relying on our traditional ways and think of better ways to do things,” Gonzalez added. — With Peter Tabingo