A jeepney honk from the busy streets jolted EJ Lugtu as she awaited the LRT-1 train.

She shifted sleepily— her grip on her heavy bag tightening— and glanced at her wristwatch, 7:45 a.m. The Balintawak LRT station was filled with people hoping to get enough space to fit themselves so as not to be late to their destination.

This is everyday life for EJ— waking up four hours earlier her class to get to UP Manila from Bocaue, Bulacan and travelling two hours to get home in the evening.

“Masaya na ko makabuo ng 5 hours [na tulog],” she shared that adding her schoolwork and household chores, she barely gets enough sleep.

A cough grabbed the attention of those nearby, as a man muttered a small “excuse me.”

Several people moved away from him— covering their mouths and noses with their hands, EJ sighed and turned away from the scene.

Since the Wuhan outbreak of a new disease known as coronavirus (COVID-19), Filipinos have been on edge. EJ, for one, felt panicked the first time she heard of the global spread of the said virus, intensified with the lack of urgency from the government which only announced the entry ban from China on February 2.

“Pinapayo ng health departments na dumistansya sa may sakit, [pero] imposibleng magawa yun lalo na pag rush hour na puno ng tao ang LRT,” she said.

Mass hysteria ensued with the confirmation of the first case in the Philippines last January 30 followed by the increasing number of people under quarantine. Some bulk purchased surgical and N95 face masks and several others sold theirs at an unreasonably expensive price.

The Department of Health (DOH) had to issue an advisory on the responsible use of face masks to prevent shortage. The agency advised the public to stay one meter away from each other, noting that COVID-19 was not airborne but rather transmitted through physical contact with a diagnosed person.

Yet with the current situation of our public transportation system, the one-meter distance advice seemed like a joke.

FULL TO CAPACITY. The Light Rail Transit 1 train already arrived, but many of the passengers did not make it inside, as it is crowded enough before it approached the Gil Puyat Station | Photo by Jaycen Aligway

“Wala namang choice [ang] mga tao, at gusto lang ng lahat makapasok o makauwi,” EJ said, finding humor at the thought.

A train arrived on the opposite platform. A woman started to sprint a few meters away— realizing she had waited on the wrong side of the station— and slightly jostled EJ as she passed by. The latter accidentally grasped on the jacket of the person in front of her. EJ muttered an apology behind the medical mask she was wearing.

“Lagi na ‘kong naka-mask… Before pa nung outbreak, lagi na ‘kong nag-a-a-alcohol and naghuhugas ng kamay,” she says, scrounging her bag for a small bottle of alcohol.

Noticing that the antiseptic had run out, her eyes scanned around the station, hoping for a government-provided alcohol for public use, but there were none.

“May nababalitaan lang ako na may pinapamigay na surgical masks ata sa public [transportation] sa Manila,” she said, “Pero ako mismo wala pa kong nararanasan, siguro dahil pa-probinsya yung sinasakyan ko.”

Even then, she recalled that she had never ridden any form of public transportation that had any protective equipment or alcohol in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Protection is left to the commuters themselves.

“Kung may bagay man na pwedeng gawin ng lahat ng commuters, siguro yung manawagan sa government, lalo sa mga department katulad ng DOH na magprovide ng free masks or kung ano pa kailangan,” EJ stated, citing the government’s capability of providing face masks to other countries despite the national shortage.

However, she acknowledged that such collective action will be hard to achieve as commuters experience fatigue from the daily cycle of “gising, commute, papasok, trabaho or aral, commute pauwi, work at home, tulog, repeat.”

All there is for helpless commuters to hold onto is the hope that they would not be unfortunate to acquire the disease as they settle for the inefficient public transportation.

The telltale sounds of the train arriving made the people waiting on the platform shift. Once it pulled up, everyone rushed in. EJ squished to the side of the train, her hands grabbing onto a metal pole to keep her upright.

Bodies nudged one another, trying to get some space from each other, but to no avail. Another man coughed from another part of the train carriage as the doors closed. The train lurched forward. EJ’s grip on the railing tightened.