ILOILO CITY: The city government will fully implement its enhanced Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) starting May 27, targeting to weed out colorum and non-consolidated traditional jeepneys.
The Iloilo City Traffic Management Unit (ICTMU) in December 2023 has installed color-coded stickers on jeepneys indicating their respective routes starting December 2023.
Those without stickers are no longer allowed to ply routes starting next week.
‘The purpose is to hasten the identification of colorum. But there are remaining traditional jeepneys that are unstickered due to internal problems within their cooperatives,’ said ICTMU head Uldarico Garbanzos in an interview on Friday.
Around 93 to 95 percent of the 1,692 consolidated traditional jeepneys operating in the 25 routes identified in the LPTRP have stickers, and 100 percent of those coming from first towns and allowed to enter city routes.
Garbanzos said the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has instructed the Land Transpor
tation Office (LTO) to start with the apprehension of traditional jeepneys that continue to operate despite being unconsolidated.
‘We will start this in tandem with LTO because this is a franchise violation. The enforcement arm of DOTr (Department of Transportation) and the LTFRB is the LTO. By next week, we will inform you all about our operation,’ he added.
Meantime, he said the city government is currently implementing in partnership with LTFRB service contracting or an incentivized program for transport cooperatives plying city and intercity-provincial routes.
For every kilometer that they ply, the LTFRB will give an incentive of PHP20 per kilometer for traditional jeepneys and PHP26 for modernized jeepneys.
Around 20 transport cooperatives in Iloilo city and province are joining the program, which will run up to a maximum of 12 days.
Meanwhile in Cebu, public utility vehicles (PUVs) whose franchise owners failed to consolidate before the April 30 deadline will be apprehended.
Edgardo Montealto Jr.,
regional director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-Central Visayas, said the enforcement against unconsolidated PUVs will be conducted by the LTO and the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG).
The HPG is deputized to assist LTO and LTFRB in running after unregistered PUVs, including traditional jeepneys which failed to apply for consolidation of their franchises.
‘There will certainly be operations in the coming days. We have a lot of colorum public utility vehicles operating in Cebu,’ Montealto told the Philippine News Agency.
HPG-Central Visayas chief, Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, said highway patrol officers are ready to assist in apprehending PUVs.
Parilla said the PUVs were given a grace period until May 15 to accomplish the requirements for consolidation.
‘So far, we are waiting for a nationwide directive from the higher headquarters [of HPG]. But we can assist already through a regional level of coordination,’ he said.
Source: Philippines News Ag
ency