ILOILO City – Alarmed by a viral video showing passengers crammed inside a minibus and allegedly told to disembark to make way for others, city officials are pushing for a fully implemented and recalibrated Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) as the structural solution to chronic overloading in the city’s public transport system.
The root of the problem goes beyond roadside enforcement and points to financial and operational strains among transport cooperatives and corporations.
“Overloading happens because the income of transport cooperatives and corporations is low,” said Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s Committee on Transportation.
But that is not a valid reason to overload, he said, stressing that operational difficulties are never an excuse to violate the law and compromise passenger safety.
“The transport cooperatives and corporations must fix their own systems. Authorities cannot monitor them at all times. They must discipline themselves and ensure compliance even without constant supervision,” he said.
A properly designed and consistently enforced LPTRP would address the underlying causes of overloading by rationalizing routes, aligning fleet size with actual passenger demand, and reducing cutthroat competition that pushes operators to maximize every trip at the expense of safety, said Cabaluna.
“Create a more organized transport system where operators have predictable routes, fair passenger distribution, and more stable income. LPTRP is a long-term solution to overloading,” Cabaluna added.
Social media users circulated a video showing an overloaded modernized bus, with passengers claiming they were asked to get off so others could board — a scene that reignited public outrage over commuter safety.
TTMO forms monitoring, apprehension team
In response, the Iloilo City Traffic and Transportation Management Office (TTMO) announced it will form a dedicated monitoring and apprehension team to strictly implement LPTRP or Regulation Ordinance 2008-393, which prohibits “excess passengers” in public utility vehicles.
TTMO head Uldarico Garbanzos clarified that the city’s enforcement authority is limited to the local ordinance, as TTMO personnel are not deputized by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to enforce the national Anti-Sardinas Policy.
“We can only enforce what is within our mandate, which is the city ordinance against excess passengers,” Garbanzos said. “For now, our main action is monitoring. But once we receive complaints, we immediately follow them up and coordinate with the concerned agencies.”
Garbanzos explained that while minibuses are allowed to carry passengers beyond seating capacity, these must not exceed the prescribed standing capacity under existing regulations. Any number beyond that is already considered an excess passenger and a violation.
He said the new monitoring team will increase visibility along major routes to deter operators from deliberately exceeding allowable passenger limits./PN
