Passengers of private vehicles are still required to wear face masks even if they are living in the same household, an official of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said on Monday.
In an interview over DZMM TeleRadyo, LTO-NCR director Clarence Guinto said that those who are living in the same household should still wear their face masks while they’re inside a private vehicle in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019.
“Kung galing kayo sa isang bahay, ‘di rin nasasabi sa regulation, dapat mag face mask pa rin. It does not distinguish kung magkasama kayo sa bahay or hindi as long as you are two or more,” he said.
“It’s harsh but that’s the provision of the circular and we have to implement this,” he added.
Meanwhile, Guinto said in a separate interview that non-wearing of face mask inside private vehicles can now be considered as reckless driving.
“When you drive a vehicle, tapos may kasama ka [at] wala kang face mask, that’s equivalent to reckless driving. So inangkop na lang namin ‘yung penalty ng non-wearing of face mask to reckless driving,” he said.
The LTO official said that only those who are driving alone are exempted from the law.
“‘Yung sa mga sasakyan na mag-isa lang, wala pong violation ‘yan,” he said.
Guinto said that violators will be slapped with a fine of P2,000 for the first offense and P3,000 for the second offense. Third-time violators, meanwhile, will be fined P5,000 and will have their driver’s license suspended for a year.
As for public utility vehicles, Guinto said that violators will be fined P5,000 for the first offense and P10,000 for the second offense. Those who will be caught for the third time will be slapped with a P15,000 fine and will also have their driver’s license suspended for a year.
