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DOTr opening more routes due to 'human smuggling' —Tugade


The Department of Transportation is planning to open more traditional, and provincial routes amid reports of colorum vehicles transporting people to circumvent quarantine restrictions.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB on Wednesday, DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said they will discuss the matter and make announcements in two days about the route expansion plan.

“Kaya nga pinagpaplanuhan ngayon. In the next 48 hours magkakaroon ng anunsyo regarding the provincial routes”(We are on the planning stage now. In the next 48 hours, we will make announcements), Tugade said.

He also suggested that traditional routes should be opened while waiting for the approval of a rationalized routes scheme in light of the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He made the statement after receiving reports about a van, and a truck that transported people to areas with less strict quarantine classification.

The National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal or "NCR Plus" is currently under an enhanced community quarantine bubble, where the entry and exit of people are restricted.

Earlier, Tugade said that a truck in Bicol had been caught transporting people despite the prohibition.

“Parang ginagawa yung sa mga border ng ibang bansa. Nakita ko rin sa film ng ibang bansa kung saan nagkakaroon ng human smuggling” (Apparently, violators copy human smuggling modus in other countries' borders that I saw in foreign films), Tugade said. 

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) reduced the allowed number of routes and units  of public utility vehicles to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. —LBG, GMA News

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