Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade today urged the country’s other train operators to hire the LRT-1 employees who will be retrenched next month.
Tugade said in an online statement that he feels “sorry” for the employees who will be let go. The retrenchment comes after the LRT-1, which travels roundtrip from Baclaran to Balintawak, recorded a 90% drop in passengers due to the COVID-19 quarantine.
Read: At least 100 LRT-1 employees to be laid off due to 90% drop in passengers
“They’re losing their jobs when there’s a pandemic. We must look into the possibility of absorbing them as quickly as we can. Let us take care of them. It’s the least and most humane thing we can do for them at this time,” Secretary Tugade said in his appeal to the Philippine National Railways (PNR), Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), and the Manila Metro Rail Transit System Line 3.
The PNR operates the roundtrip trains which travel from Tutuban to Calamba, Laguna. The LRTA operates LRT-2, which travels from Santolan, Pasig to Recto Avenue in Manila. The Manila Metro Rail Transit System Line 3 travels from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City and vice versa.
Tugade also asked LRT-1’s operator, Light Rail Manila Corporation, to test all of their remaining employees to determine if they are coronavirus-free.
“They should swab all their people. Cost is not the primary issue here. We can discuss who absorbs the cost at some later time. What matters most is the health and safety of commuters and their employees,” he said.
LRT-1’s operator promised that it would provide the retrenched employees all the benefits due to them as mandated by law. The workers will join the millions of other Filipinos who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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