By RALPH JOHN MIJARES
ROXAS City — It seems that the transport sector is shouldering the loan that the city government has to pay, a transport sector representative here said.
The city government has acquired a P51-million loan from the United Coconut Planters Bank to build the Roxas City Integrated Transport Terminal in Pueblo de Panay here.
Terminal fees are being collected from public utility vehicles (PUVs) prior to their dispatch.
“Ang transport sector ang nagbabayad ng inutang ng syudad,” Jobert Carandang of Hugpong Transport Capiz said.
Transport operators earlier filed a petition to reduce the terminal fees, but the City Council committee on public utilities rejected it, citing it was “premature.”
Councilor Jose Agdalipe, the committee chair, said the terminal opened only in June, and there were consultations held with the transport sector regarding the fees.
Carandang urged Agdalipe to reconsider since the terminal will keep on earning income anyway.
The terminal is an economic enterprise of the city. Three-fourths of its revenue will be used to pay off the loan, the city’s economic affairs consultant Carmen Andrade earlier said.
The terminal fees paid by PUVs are as follows: buses, P100; vans, P40 (for routes of less than 45 kilometers) and P80 (for routes of more than 80 kilometers); jeepneys, P25; and minibuses, P90.
Drivers were complaining that their income is affected, Carandang said.
With the time limit on the loading of passengers, drivers have no choice but to dispatch even with only a few ones onboard, he said.
Other drivers revealed that they had to “change turns” every day — those who get the first trip today will have the second trip the following day, and so on.
Alfredo Villa, 47, a jeepney driver/operator plying Jamindan to Roxas City and vice versa, said he gets “inconsistent” income with only one or two trips a day.
Carandang also lamented that the transport sectors’ concerns fell on deaf ears during the consultations. “Sila (city government) pa rin ang nasusunod,” he stressed.
Andrade doubted that the terminal fees will be reduced anytime soon. “The next administrations might decide on that,” she said./PN
