ILOILO City – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region 6 is studying the possible issuance of show cause orders against transport cooperatives, corporations, and traditional jeepney drivers who joined Monday’s transport holiday, even as authorities reported minimal disruption and no stranded passengers.
LTFRB-6 Chief Transportation Development Officer Atty. Ma. Joscet Abellar said the agency is awaiting the official report from its monitoring team to determine the extent of participation and identify those who ceased operations.
“Base sa aton nga procedures, we are supposed to issue a show cause order. However, ginalantaw pa naton ang sitwayon kon totally or tanan nag-ceaseoperation, ukon may nagbiyahe man nga units nila pero traditional lang. So, ginahulat pa naton subong ang report sang aton monitoring team kon ano gid ang nag-untat orano ang nag biyahe,” Abellar told Panay News.
Abellar noted that it is uncommon for the agency to issue show cause orders when only a portion of public transport operations is affected, saying such actions are usually taken when the impact of a transport strike is strongly felt.
Despite the transport holiday, LTFRB-6 observed that commuting remained smooth, with no significant reports of stranded passengers, particularly during rush hours, due largely to the deployment of free rides by local government units.
“Ginpasalamatan ta ang gin-deploy nga salakyan sang aton LGUs (local government units), be the city and the province of Iloilo nga nagbulig sa kinahanglan sang aton mga pasahero. So far, daw wala man kami may nakita nga daw na-stranded gid nga mga pasahero sa dalan,” said Abellar.
The manageable situation was further highlighted by the fact that Vallacar Transit Inc. did not deploy its Ceres Bus units despite being granted special permits by LTFRB-6 to operate within Iloilo City, as regular transport services proved sufficient.
Should LTFRB-6 proceed with issuing show cause orders, these will be directed to the concerned transport cooperatives, corporations, and individual drivers, requiring them to explain their participation in the transport holiday.
Those issued with show cause orders will be given five days to respond, after which the agency will evaluate whether penalties are warranted./PN
