GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
No more public transportation available in NCR as authorities stop buses, taxis
Authorities stopped buses, taxis, UV Express and other forms of public transportation in Metro Manila on Tuesday morning as the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine started.
Officers from the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group made buses and taxis fall in line on EDSA both northbound and southbound near Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame, as seen in this video taken by GMA News' Darlene Cay.
Most of the drivers said they came from overnight duty and were unaware that public transportation has been suspended.
Others claimed they were not informed by their operators.
The drivers said they have no earnings yet for the day.
In Cubao, some commuters were seen appealing to private motorists to give them a ride.
In Manila at the corner of Blumentritt Road and España Avenue, a police officer was seen stopping a UV Express van and asking passengers to alight and go home instead.
Even tricycles were not spared. At a checkpoint on Bonifacio Drive in Manila, cops ferrying a passenger stopped a tricycle, according to a report by Isa Umali on Dobol B sa News TV aired on GMA News TV.
WATCH: Sa checkpoint ng MPD sa Bonifacio Drive sa Maynila, ang mga tricycle na overloaded at mga motor rider na may angkas ay sinisita. #BantayCOVID19 via @Isa_Umali pic.twitter.com/1kACbzGnf8
— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) March 17, 2020
Around 9 a.m. Tuesday, elements of the PNP-Highway Patrol Group stopped a number of taxis from plying their routes along the EDSA southbound lane near Ortigas Avenue.
GMA News's Jun Veneracion reported that the taxis occupied three lanes. Some of the taxi drivers said they were not informed about the ban on public transportation.
Luzon has been placed under enhanced community quarantine starting 12 a.m. on March 17 as part of efforts to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
Among the measures taken is the suspension of public transportation to keep residents at home. —KG/RSJ, GMA News
