MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday deployed buses and troop carrier trucks to accommodate people traveling to and from various destinations in Metro Manila.
PNP Chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa, ordered the Directorate for Police Community Relations (DPCR) and the Police Community Affairs and Development Group (PCADG) to increase the number of vehicles to help transport more commuters.
DPCR head, Maj. Gen. Dionardo Carlos, said the PNP began rolling the vehicles at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“It is our desire to ferry more people but we give premium to the health and safety of the public availing of these services. We hope for the understanding of everyone,” Carlos said in a statement.
He said 12 buses and troop carrier trucks of the PNP Special Action Force were also deployed.
Carlos said the effort is being replicated by the regional police offices, in coordination with local government units and other government agencies.
He said police personnel were instructed to implement physical distancing, reducing the load capacity of the vehicles to 50 percent.
PNP spokesperson, Brig Gen. Bernard Banac, however, admitted that the police force still monitored stranded commuters due to Iimited public transportation.
“The situation on Tuesday (was) much better than Monday. There (was) an improvement when it comes to traffic build-up and the congestion we faced (on Monday),” Banac said.
He attributed the traffic slowdown to policemen trying their best to check motorists and commuters if they were authorized to leave their residences and the increase in private vehicles on the streets after workers of essential industries were allowed to return to work two months after strict quarantines were imposed last March.
Meanwhile, the number of police officers infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has reached 326.
Data from the PNP Health Service as of Tuesday night showed 174 patients have recovered while the death toll stands at four.It is also monitoring 729 probable cases and 683 suspect cases.