Frontliner, Pinara at Pinagmulta ng P5k ng MMDA Matapos Umangkas sa Motor

Amid the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, mass transportation has also been suspended to contain the spread of coronavirus. However, this poses a major problem for commuters. Many workers, including front-liners like medical personnel, do not have their own means of transportation, which makes performing their duty during the outbreak even more challenging.

The sad reality is even though we are in need of more hospital staff than ever, the quarantine is making it tougher for them to perform their duties. Even though some hospitals provide shuttle service, not all nurses or doctors are able to benefit from that.

Earlier this week, a motorist rider shared his disappointing experience on the road. On April 26, Michael Villanueva shared that he was apprehended by officials of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). Villanueva was driving with his sister-in-law, who works as a nurse in a Quezon City hospital.

According to Villanueva, while they were traveling in Tungko, Bulacan area, they were stopped by MMDA personnel in checkpoints. The attending personnel informed Villanueva and his sister-in-law that they were violating social distancing by sitting too close together in the motorcycle.

Villanueva tried to reason out and explained that his sister-in-law needed to be in her shift at a hospital in QC. Even though they have shuttles, the vans never get to pass their area in Bulacan. Because of this, she has no other options but to ride the motorcycle on her way to work.

In spite of their insistence, the MMDA officials stood their ground. The nurse tried to wait for another service shuttle to pass by, but not one vehicle stopped for her. In the end, they even had to pay Php 5,000 penalty for allegedly disobeying social distancing guidelines.

As expected, this post angered many netizens on Facebook. For some, this also served as an eye-opener on the challenge that our front liners are currently facing. Many people are calling out the attention of the government to resolve this and find a better solution to provide transportation to our front liners.

Do you think that the Php 5,000 penalty was justified for the rider and his passenger? We'd love to hear from you, so don't hesitate to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below. For more updates on the latest happenings, feel free to follow us on Facebook.