Angkas riders to bring medical frontliners to work and home for free

August 7, 2020

Around 1,000 Angkas riders were assigned to transport medical frontliners to work and back home for free, the Joint Task Force COVID Shield said on Friday.

Police Lt General Guillermo Eleazar, JTF commander, said the Angkas group took the initiative of coordinating with Interior Secretary Eduardo Año for permission to launch this project and distribute free motorcycle barriers for motorcycle riders who transport their relatives and friends who are frontliners.

This was eventually approved by the National Task Force on COVID-19.  The service starts Saturday until August 18 when the modified enhanced community quarantine ends.

“This benevolent act of the Angkas Group is a clear manifestation that the spirit of bayanihan is very much alive and continues to be a defining value of Filipinos especially in this time of global pandemic,” said Eleazar.

“We in the JTF COVID Shield believe that there are a lot of people out there who continue to extend a helping hand to their troubled kababayans as revealed by the countless good deeds that we regularly see in the social media since the entire country was placed in community quarantine,” he added.

Based on the agreement between the JTF COVID Shield and Angkas, the 1,000 Angkas riders who would provide free rides to medical workers would be assigned near the hospitals identified by the Department of Health as having health workers attending to COVID-19 patients.

These are the Philippine General Hospital, San Lazaro Hospital, Ospital ng Sampaloc in Manila; the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City; and the Tala Hospital in Caloocan City.

Some Angkas riders will also be placed on standby at the National Kidney Institute, Quezon City General Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City; and, Ospital ng Maynila and Fabella Hospital in Manila.

Angkas, through its chief transport advocate George Royeca, donated 1,000 motorcycle barriers to the Philippine National Police.

Eleazar said the donated 1,000 motorcycle barriers will be given to various police stations in Metro Manila to distribute to qualified motorcycle drivers.

The main priority are motorcycle riders who regularly ferry their spouses, live-in partners, relatives and friends who work as medical frontliners.

Eleazar urged individuals and groups to help in making it easier for motorcycle riders to comply with health standard protocol for pillion riding and eventually help medical frontliners in their transport needs especially in Metro Manila and other areas that are under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

President Rodrigo Duterte last August 4, placed Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal under MECQ again as an immediate response to the call of the medical community for temporary implementation of stricter rules to contain the spread of the COVID-19.

Under the MECQ which will be until August 18, public transportation is not allowed which make it hard for medical frontliners and other essential workers to avail of transportation to report to their work, and to go back to their homes. Ella Dionisio/DMS