By RUFFIE CRUZ | San Marcelino, Zambales

The suspension of public mass transportation facilities under the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine left a lot of workers walking or hitching a ride on their way back home.

Ethel Romero, 34, a resident of Barangay Linasin in this town said she had to ride in an ambulance from Olongapo City just to get home to her family on Tuesday after a day’s work at Datian Subic Shoes in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ).

This was the first day that the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) took effect. At 4:30 p.m., Ethel and some of her workmates began walking from the Datian factory at the Gateway Park Phase 2 because all public utility vehicles inside SBFZ, including taxis, halted their operations.

“[Company] bus lang ang meron, pero mangilan-ngilan lang,” Ethel recalled. “Tapos, kada bus 30 passengers lang ang puwede (dahil sa social distancing).”

Somehow, they were able to squeeze into one of the buses and reached the Victory Liner terminal in Olongapo City Victory at around 5:00 p.m.

TAKING OFFERS

There, hundreds of stranded workers crowded the terminal, even amid strict implementation of social distancing, as transportation operations have been suspended too in the whole province.

“May mga tricycle na nag-aalok maghatid hanggang Barretto for P50,” Ethel noted.  “’Yung iba kinakagat na (‘yung offer), tapos lalakad na lang ng kaunti kasi may mga jeep na daw sa Sawmill (an area near Baloy Beach).”

However, Ethel, a mother of three, opted to wait for a jeepney or a bus to save money. She and her fellow Datian workers waited for more than an hour, but to no avail.

“Mga 6:30 na noong nag-text ‘yung kapatid ng katrabaho ko. Nasa Aventus (Ulo ng Apo) daw sila ng asawa niya,” Ethel recalled. “Tinanong kami kung gusto namin makisabay. Pero ambulansya daw.”

Seeing the sea of people waiting for buses that did not arrive, Ethel and her friends decided to accept the offer. But Ethel was quite nervous because she didn’t know whether the ambulance was empty or was carrying a patient—a Covid-19 patient.

The ambulance, it turned out, was that of the local government of Castillejos. The sister of Ethel’s workmate, who offered the ride, was a resident of Barangay San Jose in that town.

WALKING HOME

“Noong dumaan kami sa Barretto, grabe! Ang daming naglalakad na tao,” Ethel recalled. “Pati mga dumadaang truck nagsasakay na din (ng pasahero),” she noticed.

At that time, one of Ethel’s co-workers decided to walk from the Victory terminal to Barretto. On her way somewhere along the zigzag road, a good Samaritan riding a motorcycle offered her a ride.

“Noon una ayaw daw niya, kasi wala siyang helmet; baka mahuli pa ‘yung nagmagandang-loob. Pero ramdam na daw niya ‘yung pagod, kaya pumayag na din siya,” Ethel narrated.

“Pagbaba niya sa 164 (Maquinaya), naglakad na siya hanggang Sawmill. Doon na siya nakasakay ng jeep. Naiyak daw siya pagkaupo niya eh,” Ethel added.

LOOKING TO RETURN

When asked if she still wants to go to work after that difficult experience, Ethel answered: “Siyempre naman.”

Datian Subic Shoes has announced it will temporarily stop production until April 14 in compliance with the ECQ. Most of its employees are contractuals who are subject to the “no work, no pay” rule.

“Mas gusto kong pumasok, kasi hindi kami sasahod (kung nakabakasyon),” Ethel explained. “Pero sana, may (bus) service.”