'Mag-usap muna kayo': Confusion on Beep cards could have been avoided, Robredo says
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday scored transportation officials over the seeming lack of communication in implementing the "No Beep card, No ride" policy on buses and trains which took effect on Oct. 1.
Commuters, still reeling from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, were dismayed at the start of the month that they would need the cards to use public transportation. The cards cost P80 and have fare credit of P100..
While Robredo said she supports the shift to cashless transactions on public transportation to minimize the risk of contracting the coronavirus, the absence of an information drive had left the public burdened.
"'For me, people should have been informed better before the policy took effect so that those who could not afford the amount could have been assisted," she said in her weekly radio program.
The transportation department on Saturday warned AF Payments Inc., the consortium behind the fare system, that the use of Beep cards on the EDSA busway system would be suspended if the company that entered into a partnership with government would not distribute cards for free.
"Should the AFPI refuse to cooperate by allowing the free use of the Beep card to commuters upon payment of the fare load, the DOTr will have to suspend its use in the EDSA busway to alleviate the burden of commuters,” the department said.
AFPI earlier this week said it had already "reduced the cost of the beepTM cards during the initial phase which ran from August 1 to September 30, 2020" and that the cards now being sold are "at zero-profit, still partially subsidized as the full cost upon turnover to buyer is more than P80."
'They should have talked first'
But the DOTr's sudden policy shift did not sit well with the vice president, who said officials could have planned for the additional charges..
"You should have talked it over so you don't contradict each other," she said in Filipino. "It is suprising that a program is implemented and then the agency that is implementing it will be surprised that it is being implemented."
The Beep card incident, Robredo added, seems to be a repeat of the department's move to relax physical distance requirement in public transport, from the recommended one meter by the World Health Organization to .75.
The department's move was eventually shot down by Malacañang, as President Rodrigo Duterte decided to keep the required distance at one meter.
"It's a similar policy where it was implemented without informing those that would be affected by it," she said.
Robredo said government should at least shoulder the expenses for the cash-strapped commuters. She also appealed that indigents who go on commute be given the initial P100 load.
The DOTr has said that it will come up with a solution on the issue in its discussions with bus operators driving on the EDSA busway and the AFPI.
Officials added that a memo from the LTFRB will also come out directing public utility vehicle operators not to put the burden of the cashless scheme on commuters.
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