The province of Subic continues to create ways to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 while providing comfortable services to its residents. This includes the approval of a cashless public transportation system that will make use of loadable cards instead of cash. Subic also lent a helping hand to returning OFWs who arrived in the country at the height of Typhoon Rolly by allowing them to stay in accredited hotels. Meanwhile, Clark International Airport is gearing up for travel under the new normal by constructing a new terminal that will accommodate more passengers.
Transportation News
Subic Bay approved cashless buses as a public transportation system
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman Wilma T. Eisma has approved a cashless public transportation system in SBMA to help promote public health safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Autokid Truck Solutions was given the go-signal to create a public utility bus line that uses an automated fare collection system and is compliant with social distancing protocols.
Autokid Subic Trading Corporation CEO Kevin McHale Yao said that the project will provide an efficient, environment-friendly, safe, and comfortable transportation system for the public. Loadable payment cards will be used in order to prevent passengers from carrying cash with them. Proposed fares will be PhP25 per person for the first two routes and PhP30 per person for the third route. SBMA and Autokid are discussing a dry-run for the routes of the buses to see how it will all work out. [1]
Clark International Airport’s new terminal completed before the October deadline
The new terminal of Clark International Airport has been completed and will be used starting January 2021. Built by Megawide Construction Corporation and Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure Limited, the new passenger terminal building was finished ahead of its deadline which was last October. The terminal’s interiors have yet to be completed and its operational readiness and transfer to assure a smooth operation must still be ensured.
The new terminal is expected to increase the airport’s passenger volume up to 12.2 million once it’s operational. It will also help decongest the passengers from Ninoy Aquino International Airport once pre-pandemic passenger traffic returns. [2]
Health News: OFWs caught in typhoon accommodated in Subic hotels
Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who arrived in the country amid Typhoon Rolly were accommodated in hotels in Subic Bay for quarantine. A total of 377 OFWs were accommodated; of this total, 104 arrived last November 1 and 273 arrived last November 2. Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman Wilma Eimsa said that the OFWs were temporarily taken in since Typhoon Rolly threatened to hit Metro Manila and other areas in Central Luzon.
The OFWs were lodged in different hotels in Subic Bay that are accredited by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the Bureau of Quarantine. Eisma cleared that she requested clearance from the local government units near Subic Bay and they agreed to take in the OFWs. They were subjected to COVID-19 tests before being brought to their respective hotels. [3]
Go to Yoorekka for more COVID-19 updates in Central Luzon.
Sources:
[1] https://bit.ly/2GTM3Dp
[2] https://bit.ly/2IyVFne
[3] https://bit.ly/3nalglA
