By Leonardo Micua

 

NOW that the Philippines is finally rated a low risk area for COVID-19 by the Department of Health, methinks it’s time our local officials again to press for the resumption of public transportation from Pangasinan to Cubao and vice versa if they really care for the welfare of their constituents.

Recall that when our officials were pressing for the return of buses that used to ply  Pangasinan -Metro Manila, there was a sudden surge of COVID-19 cases both in the National Capital Region and Pangasinan, exacerbated by the incursion of the more transmittable Delta variant. That blunted their initiative to bring back bus trips between the two points.

Public transport to and from Manila is urgently needed to finally make our transition to normal life complete. Without the buses running to-and-fro Manila and Pangasinan, travelers would have to continuously cough up more than P1,700 each way for every essential travel.

Last we heard, bus operators were protesting a directive from LTFRB, following the guideline set by the national IATF, directing buses from Pangasinan to unload and load their passengers at the North Luzon Expressway Terminal in Bocaue. It meant the bus companies will have to give up their terminals  in Cubao, Pasay and elsewhere in Manila.

Now, the latest news is provincial buses are allowed to unload their passengers in Cubao, but only buses from Tarlac to Cubao, meaning a Pangasinense going to Manila will have to board a Victory Liner or a Five Star bus in Tarlac for the trip to Cubao.

Many commuters are still unhappy about this arrangement since transferring to another  bus to reach their destinations can be exhaustive especially if they are traveling with a heavy baggage. And they also do not know how long the waiting time will be before they can board another bus in Tarlac that will take them to Cubao.

If that were the case, commuters will continue to settle for a commuter van albeit a colorum operator if only to save them the trouble of transferring from one bus to another.

Why are the bus passengers from Pangasinan being punished this way by LTFRB?

Recall that operators of buses plying the Pangasinan-Cubao route and vice versa refused to use the NLET in Bocaue since they have terminals in Cubao, Pasay and other parts of Metro Manila, and worse, the common central terminal in Bocaue charges a fee for every bus that enters the terminal to load and unload passengers.

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A horde of Dagupan residents milled excitedly, clearly violating the social distancing protocol, in front and inside the city plaza, awaiting Promdi presidential candidate Manny Pacquiao’s arrival for a whirlwind visit on Tuesday from his trip to Baguio and Benguet.  

Many with their children in tow, including babies in their arms, traveled from their barangay to the heart of the city on receiving the news that Senator Pacquiao was coming to Dagupan City and could be distributing some cash to people like he reportedly did in all his provincial sorties.  

The response of the people was spontaneous. Who would reject cash from their boxing idol  Pacquiao who made a rags to riches story through boxing. 

I don’t know if everyone was given the ayuda that they hoped to get from Senator Pacquiao but the huge crowd gave the police led by Lt. Colone Louise Benjie Tremor a hard time in controlling them.  

That near riot situation at the city plaza could mean that many Dagupenos may have been left out of the ayuda from the city government when a state of calamity was declared  following the wrath of Typhoon Maring.  

Because of these difficult times, I’m sure many in the city will now begin to expect cash from visiting politicians in exchange for their votes. 

Speaking of ayuda, Bonuan Gueset Barangay Kapital Noel Bumanlag distributed two kilos of aromatic rice and a bundle of noodle after the floods, fairly and equitably to all households in our area.  

We were informed this same ayuda was distributed earlier by Kapitan Julie Perez of Pantal to her constituents.  

Meanwhile, the ayuda from the calamity fund have not reached Bonuan Gueset and Barangay Pantal as of this writing. 

But we already saw some photos uploaded on Facebook that showed Mayor Lim distributing the ayuda to people with claim stubs.  

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