LTFRB Central Office closes anew over persistent COVID-19 threat

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will once again close the doors of its Central Office to business after five staffers tested positive for COVID-19.

The LTFRB Central Office, located along East Ave., Quezon City, will shut down operations beginning Monday, July 13, until Friday, July 17, to give way to the disinfection of the agency’s facilities at the office location.

The five staffers were confirmed positive of the dreaded virus after the Philippine Red Cross and Philippine Coast Guard jointly conducted reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) swab testing—the more accurate form of COVID-19 testing available—on the agency’s employees.

"Nangyari po lahat 'yan habang mahigpit na sinusunod ng ahensya ang mga public safety protocols tulad ng pagsusuot ng face mask, karaniwang paghuhugas ng kamay at paggamit ng alcohol at sanitizer, regular na pag-disinfect ng opisina, at social distancing," said LTFRB Chairman Atty. Martin B. Delgra III.

"Dahil sa sitwasyon ngayon sa tanggapan ng LTFRB, at para sa kaligtasan ng mga empleyado, ang aming mga stakeholders, at ng publiko, napagpasya naming itigil muna ang operasyon ng LTFRB Central Office simula sa Lunes. Hindi pinapayagang pumasok sa opisina ang mga tauhan ng ahensya," Chairman Delgra added.

With the shutdown of operations, the LTFRB is informing the public that accepting and processing of documents will be delayed until the resumption of work.

However, the agency is encouraging people to use online transactions for the following services:

• Request for Special Permit;
• Correction of Typographical Error;
• Request for Confirmation of Unit/s;
• Request for Franchise Verification;
• Request for Issuance or Extension Provisional Authority;
• Legal Concerns/Query on Hearing Schedule, Status

Those who wish to do any of these online processes may follow the instructions listed on this link.

Transactions may also be done using LTFRB-NCR’s Public Transport Online Processing System (PTOPS) found in this link.

“Humihingi kami ng panalangin para sa kalusugan ng aming mga empleyado na may sakit, at katatagan ng loob para malagpasan ang mga pagsubok na dala ng COVID-19," Delgra urged.

LTFRB previously closed its doors during the implementation of the Metro-wide enhanced community quarantine.

Similarly, its partner agency LTO, also had to close two of its main offices within the same area after 12 employees were confirmed positive for the disease last June.

Photos from LTFRB Facebook page, Philippine News Agency

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