Gov. Arthur Yap announces that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) has called off the arrests 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 on 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).”
UNREALISTIC
Yap tells the Department of Transportation (DoTR), LTFRB, and the LTO to be “realistic” in implementing the policy related to the operation of traditional public utility vehicles (PUV), particularly the jeepneys, where there is a need for “special permit”.
The governor expressed his position in the provincial government-sponsored program on Thursday (June 4, 2020).
In the interview, the governor said he was made aware about the situation where there is a shortage in the transportation options in the province after the LTO launched an operation against PUVs, particularly the jeepneys. There are no jeepneys plying their respective routes unless they have a special permit from the LTFRB.
With the development, Yap reached out to the national authorities “to be realistic” and allow the operations of the jeepneys, which are among the main modes of transportation in the province.
“The national policy to only allow buses to operate should not be made identically implementable dire sa Bohol, tungod kay lahi ang sitwasyon. Nakasabot ta sa NCR (National Capital Region) o sa mga other places na grabe ang pagtakod takod didto, ug of course istrikto sila sa pagcontain sa public transport. Dire sa Bohol, we have to be realistic na dire Covid free naman,” Yap said in the radio interview.
In the same interview, the governor pointed out that the number of buses operating in Bohol is not enough to cover the Boholanos’ transportation needs.
He added that DoTR Sec. Arthur Tugade may have an impression that there are enough bus franchises, but it does not reflect the real situation of the transport sector.
Moreover, the governor said that by restricting the operations of PUVs, it will only result to the violations of social distancing rules.
Furthermore, the governor reached out to the national authorities to resolve the issue that has caused a huge headache among the riding public in Bohol.