By HENRY EMPEÑO | Subic Bay Freeport

THE SUBIC Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) relaxed access to the Subic Bay Freeport on Monday as more companies resumed operations here under general community quarantine (GCQ), but many workers still failed to return to work because of lack of public transportation from their communities.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the Subic agency will allow persons with SBMA-issued identification cards or temporary passes to enter and exit the Freeport, as long as they are reporting for work, or providing or accessing essential goods and services.

“We have relaxed border restrictions in Subic because of the urgent need to revive our economy, which has also fallen sick under the pandemic. To heal as one, we need to restore economic health,” Eisma said on Monday.

She, however, advised workers and stakeholders here to be “more cautious, more safety-conscious than ever before” because of the lingering threat of the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

“More people movement also means more chances for the virus to move and spread even faster, so we need to protect our businesses, our families and ourselves,” she added.

Under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the SBMA limited access to the Freeport only to residents and workers, as well as government frontline workers, health and emergency personnel, members of armed forces, and holders of I.D. cards issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).

Under GCQ, Subic Freeport gates were opened also to employees of accredited suppliers and service providers, persons traveling for medical or humanitarian reasons, those flying through the Subic airport, overseas Filipinos with confirmed accommodation in Subic, persons transported by the national government, and those with goods for export or import through the Port of Subic.

The Subic agency likewise granted entry but required prior notice or proof of appointment to clients, customers, suppliers, and subcontractors or service providers of Subic establishments or enterprises, as well as to visitors, suppliers, subcontractors or service providers of Freeport residents.

In anticipation of the influx of workers returning for work in authorized companies, the SBMA designated four gates for the entry and exit of workers, residents and other authorized persons: Rizal Gate, Kalaklan Gate, and Morong Gate, which shall be open for both pedestrians and vehicles, and Tipo Gate, which shall only allow said authorized persons in vehicles.

Meanwhile, Eisma clarified that the Main Gate will be used only by authorized persons travelling on foot, while the 14^th Street Gate will be open to authorized pedestrians, including those on bicycles or motorcycles, only from 6:00 am to 9:00 am Mondays through Saturdays.

On the other hand, workers were not yet allowed to enter through Kalayaan Gate, which will remain for the exclusive use of ambulances, fire trucks and law enforcement vehicles responding to actual emergency, vehicles with emergency medical patient on board, and SBMA vehicles transporting employees to and from official duty.

The relaxation of Subic gate controls to allow more employees to report for work, however, was somewhat dampened by the lack of buses, jeepneys and other conveyances that would ferry workers from communities adjacent to the free port zone.

“Marami ang umuwing luhaan kasi walang masakyan (A lot went home in tears because they can’t find any ride),” noted Arthur Dumaguing, an SBMA employee who commutes from Castillejos, Zambales, two towns north of Subic.

He said that while some Freeport companies fielded shuttle buses for their employees, these were not enough to accommodate those that previously took public transportation to and from work.

In Olongapo City, workers ending their shift just before curfew also faced the lack of public jeepneys to ride from work.

“Pwede nga kami sa labas kahit curfew na dahil may trabaho, pero wala naman kaming masakyan, ‘yan ang problema (We may be exempt from curfew hours because of work, but we don’t have anything to ride on, that’s the problem),” rued Dante Salvaña, an SBMA employee who resides at Barangay Gordon Heights in Olongapo.

Curfew hours start in Olongapo at 6:00 pm, but start two hours later in the Subic Bay Freeport.

TOP PHOTO: Workers of a manufacturing company in the Subic Bay Freeport wait for transportation along the highway in Castillejos, Zambales on June 1, the start of GCQ. (Photo by JUN DUMAGUING)