{"id":258500,"date":"2020-06-18T07:17:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T11:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=258500"},"modified":"2020-06-18T07:17:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T11:17:29","slug":"let-provincial-buses-resume-operations-house-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/06\/18\/let-provincial-buses-resume-operations-house-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Let provincial buses resume operations: House leader"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Public utility buses park at the designated stop and pick-up points along Edsa on Monday (June 1, 2020). (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday called for the resumption of operations of provincial buses with minimum health standards strictly observed.<\/p>\n

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, panel chair, said a continuation of provincial bus bans would have \u201cvery little utility\u201d as far as preventing infections is concerned and could cause \u201cgreat damage\u201d to the mobility of people who have to go to work.<\/p>\n

Salceda said the economy will not fully recover until transport can be made operational.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are the driving force of the economy, and if people find it hard to move, the economy will likewise find it hard to get going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor stimulus plans to work, you need people to create value. If they\u2019re stuck in the provinces or in Manila, away from where they usually create value, the stimulus will face serious roadblocks,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Salceda also warned against opportunistic behavior, saying \u201cthis is the worst time to step on other people to gain undue advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a crisis. I expect people in the regulatory sector and in the business sector to make things easier for the people, not harder,\u201d Salceda said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is an issue with pricing fares because I understand that due to social distancing, the supply of seats will be reduced, we should talk it out with the regulators,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He suggested that the government could come up with a program allowing provincial buses to operate at reasonable margins without compromising safety and health standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it has to be negotiated at the proper forum. Any attempt at price gouging should be monitored.\u201d Salceda said.<\/p>\n

Salceda said regulations that burden the ordinary commuters should also be avoided.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were attempts in the past to ban provincial passengers from Edsa and to channel all passenger traffic in Para\u00f1aque. Don\u2019t do it in the middle of this crisis, when even going to Para\u00f1aque will prove to be a problem. Now is not the time. Don\u2019t even think about it.\u201d Salceda said.<\/p>\n

Salceda noted that the transport system should be focused on the comfort and convenience of the commuter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not build transport systems so that private cars can have a smoother trip. We build transport systems so that the Filipino worker can go from home to work and back with well-deserved ease, earn a decent living, and create value for himself, his family, and his country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday called for the resumption of operations of provincial …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":257376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-filane-mikee-cervantes","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258501,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258500\/revisions\/258501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}