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BY RESEL JOY TIANERO
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Friday, May 12, 2017
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ILOILO City – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has an image problem and its new director in Western Visayas wants to fix this.
Director Richard “Richie” Zayco Osmeña acknowledged the prevailing public perception that “LTFRB is a corrupt agency.”
He wanted this perception changed, he told Panay News yesterday.
But how?
Osmeña, a former councilor of Cebu City, said he will make LTFRB Region 6 more transparent and bring it closer to its clients.
“We are public servants so it’s important that we are open to the public and we address their concerns,” he said.
Making transactions faster at LTFRB-6 is another priority. He said clients should not be made to wait for hours or even days.
Osmeña also told Panay News he would like to confer with various transport groups to know their concerns.
One of these concerns could be the existence of colorum vehicles, said Osmeña, and he wanted this stopped.
To LTFRB-6 personnel, he had this message: “Let’s work together. My being an RD (regional director) is just a name. We are all employees of the government. We’re mandated to serve the people.”
Osmeña served as city councilor of Cebu for three terms or nine years. He handled the committee on police and traffic matters.
President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Osmeña to head LTFRB-6 on March 31 yet but only assumed his post Friday last week.
His appointment papers went through the Department of Transportation and LTFRB central office in Metro Manila thus the delay, explained Atty. Ma. Joscet Buyco-Abellar, former officer-in-charge of LTFRB-6 and now its legal officer.
Osmeña took his oath of office just this May 5.
According to Edgar Salarda, president of the Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide – Panay, they were hoping the new director would be “open-minded”, listen and act on their concerns.
On the other hand, Raymundo Parcon, president of the Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association, said Osmeña should improve the processing of papers at LTFRB-6.
Recently, Salarda’s group again protested outside LTFRB-6. They were against the planned phaseout of passenger jeepneys 15 years old and older.
The group threatened more mass actions and suggested an alternative – overhaul or rehabilitation of old jeepneys.
According to Salarda, the phaseout would displace jeepney drivers and operators, and their families.
There were about 236,000 public utility jeepneys in the country, with Iloilo city and province accounting for about 5,700 of them, said Salarda./PN
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