For further Inquiry:
Atty. Argee Guevarra
Spokesperson
PASADA CC
COMMUTER GROUP APPEALS TO LTFRB TO PROVIDE ORDER TO FIRST DAY OF PROVINCIAL BUS OPERATIONS
We, members of the Pilipino Society and Development Advocates (PASADA) Commuter-Consumer today urge the Department of Transportation and Railways (DOTr) specifically the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to put order in the prevailing chaos in various parts of Northern and Southern Luzon as public bus transportation resumes.
Part of the confusion is the instruction for provincial buses to use integrated bus terminals despite an injunction order from the Courts prohibiting the DOTr and the LTFRB from enforcing the use of integrated bus terminals in Bulacan and Paranaque.
We got verified information from hundreds of commuters that several bus companies were not allowed to resume operations due to confusion arising from the lack and absence of health protocol personnel of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF). This abrupt suspension caused thousands of dislocated commuters at various terminals in the National Capital Region (NCR) as well as in the provinces.
Several regional LTFRB offices specifically that of Region 3 in Pampanga unilaterally decided to suspend bus routes from Araneta Center to Pampanga without properly communicating such intentions to bus companies causing undue and untold suffering for thousands of eager commuters who waited for an average of four (4) hours for their trip to Metro Manila.
Thousands of commuters waited for several hours but found not a single provincial bus plying the Point-to-Point routes in Central Luzon due to confusing instructions from the LTFRB. This phenomenon was also observed in the Southern province of Cavite when hundreds of buses were told that they can only service 150 commuters and no more than that.
We also got information that provincial buses are being forced to use integrated bus terminals despite a court injunction stopping the LTFRB and DOTr from enforcing a previous departamental order directing provincial buses to use these terminals in Bulacan and Paranaque. This dislocated thousands of commuters from Northern Luzon as not a single soul went to these integrated bus terminals to avail public bus services.
We extend our hand to the DOTr and LTFRB and help them institutionalize order in this chaos. We also urged them to implement order immediately so as not to inconvenience thousands of our Filipino Commuters.
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About PASADA CC
PASADA CC, or Pilipino Society Development Advocates Commuter-Consumer is a registered non-governmental organization by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Established in 2014 and incorporated as a non-stock, non-profit organization in 2019, PASADA CC seeks to improve the lives of Filipino commuters and consumers by introducing innovative solutions thru research, consultation and mass media awareness on such issues as traffic, commuter safety and consumer protection.
