MANKAYAN, Benguet- The municipal government recently allowed the inter-municipal travel of garage vans only for cargo to ensure the steady supply of basic commodities in the different establishments around the municipality and to guarantee the smooth delivery of agricultural crops to the various markets outside the municipality.
Mayor Frenzel A. Ayong said the decision of the municipal government to allow garage vans to travel for cargo purposes was reached after consulting with the affected sector, the businessmen, agriculture industry stakeholders, and the people in the community.
However, he pointed out that the travel of vans for cargo purposes will have to pass through the established protocols where drivers are still required to secure travel pass or travel authority from the municipal government.
He claimed the need to gradually allow some income-generating activities for people to start earning after losing income due to the implementation of measures against the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
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“We have really to start somewhere for our people to earn income from the allowed activities while we are under the modified general community quarantine. We have to slowly start rising from the situation as we embrace the new normal situation,” Mayor Ayong stressed.
The municipal chief executive said that the travel of the garage vans for cargo purposes was initially coordinated with concerned government agencies and other municipal governments in the province to ensure the smooth transport of goods in and out of the municipality for the benefit of consumers.
According to him, the inter-municipal travel of people will still depend on the decision of concerned local governments which will have to be discussed during future meetings of the members of the provincial inter-agency task force for the management of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases for the decision to apply to every traveler within the province.
Mayor Ayong said local officials understand the predicament of van operators and drivers of losing their income during the implementation of the different community quarantine measures of local governments after the suspension of mass public transportation, thus, something must be done for the said sector to start gradually resuming their activities to meet their needs.
He asserted that the initial operation of the garage vans for cargo purposes has been going on smoothly over the past several days that is why efforts are being done to sustain the same until such time that the prevailing crisis situation will normalize or when the new normal situation will be enforced.
He admitted that it is still difficult to open inter-provincial cargo travel to the neighboring towns of Ilocos Sur and Mountain Province because of the enforcement of strict community quarantine regulations thus the municipal government opted to open inter-municipal cargo travel for towns in the province only.
By Hent
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