Gov. Arthur Yap announces that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has called off the apprehension of jeepney drivers that ply their routes without a “special permit”.
The governor broke the good news for the Boholano riding public in a radio interview today Thursday (June 4, 2020) over “Newsmakers ug Uban Pa” hosted by Bohol Tribune’s managing editor Ardy Ines Araneta-Batoy and Gloria Ines Araneta.
Yap said that the LTO regional director, Victor Emmanuel Caindec, sent him a text message saying that the operation against jeepneys without “special permit” will be called off, but a check on the compliance on social distancing rules will be made in the coming days.
Boholano commuters encountered a huge headache in the past few days after jeepneys were kept away from Bohol streets following the LTO operation.
With the operation, commuting has become harder due to the fact that there are no jeepneys plying the routes in the city and into the different towns.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) issued special permits to public utility vehicles (PUVs) but such special permit is only covering buses and modern jeepneys in Cebu City and Cebu province.
It was learned from Caindec that no jeepney operator in Bohol was issued a special permit to operate.
According to the governor, the LTFRB will only allow the buses to operate, shutting down the operations of the jeepneys.
As this developed, according to LTFRB memorandum 2020-R7-003 dated June 1, 2020, “All PUVs without Special Permit will be tantamount to colorum operations.”
The memorandum was signed by LTFRB regional director Eduardo Montealto.
“I am happy to say that because of the intervention that we did this morning with Sec. (Arthur) Tugade, I have been talking to regional director Caindec, and sent a message to regional director Montealto, and I was able to somehow make them understand. I also talked to provincial director (Vicente) Gador here of the LTO, and I was able to make them understand that these things are another unreasonable na regulation sa transportation. Right now, you can just imagine, we have enough buses and jeepneys here so that they can take care of our commuting public. Instead of allowing them to operate ug ang nahitabo sa niaging duha ka adlaw, ilahang e-control nila tanan ang mga jeepneys. Ang gusto nila (e-operate) ang bus, ang mahitabo ang mga tawo mag guot-guot silang tanan, you will actually violate social distancing,” Yap said.
He added, “I am happy to announce that I received a message from director Caindec and he (Caindec) said that they are now calling off (the operations).”