For 150 PUV units in metro Cebu: Permits extended

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has extended for 45 days the special permits granted to 150 units of modern public utility vehicles (PUVs) plying to and from the different towns and cities in Metro Cebu.

Garcia has issued executive order (EO) number 5 extending the validity of the special permits issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-7 from February 1, 2023 up to March 17, 2023.

This is to allow the various local government units to come up with their respective Local Public Transport Route Plans (LPTRP) as required under the PUV modernization law.

The PUVs whose special permits were extended include those that are plying these routes-- Liloan to IT Park (20 units); Consolacion to IT Park (20 units); Mandaue to IT Park (10 units); Naga to IT Park (20 units); Minglanilla to IT Park (15 units); Minglanilla to Parkmall (20 units); Talisay to IT Park (30 units) and Talisay to Parkmall (15 units).

Garcia said there is an urgent need to allow these modern PUVs to continue serving the routes to “prevent any needless inconvenience and burden to the Cebuanos.”

 On January 31, the mayors from the affected LGUs went to see the governor and LTFRB-7 regional director Eduardo Montealto to discuss the looming problem of lack of public transport in their respective cities and municipalities due to the expiration of the special permits.

“…di na gyud ma extend pa kay wala na sa power or authority sa RD (regional director), kutob ra na today ( January 31). Yesterday, Mayor Samsam (Gullas) alerted me of possible great confusion and worse kadtong instead nga one trip ra, one ride ra, mapun-an og ika duha, ikatulo kadtong mga regularly plying these routes covered by the special permit, so additional burden on our commuting public given that bag-o bag-o pa tawon nabalik sa trabaho, mapun-an pa ang bayranan sa pasahe. Ang mga estudaynte nibalik na baya ron og eskwela, asa man na kuhaon sa ila baya ng allowance. Mao tong nangari ang mga mayors,” Garcia said.

Since it was already beyond the power of the LTFRB-7 regional director to extend the special permits, Garcia issued an EO as immediate short term solution to the problem.

To permanently address the problem, Garcia said a three-day seminar will be conducted on the first week of February by the LTFRB-7 for all the City and Municipal Planning Development Officers, including the chief of the traffic enforcement team of the LGUs in Cebu Province, to guide them in crafting their respective LPTRP.

The draft LPTRP of the LGUs will be submitted for review by the Provincial Planning and Development Office and LTFRB-7.

“What is the importance of this? Kay mismo matag LGU mo-come up sa ilang mga rota, but dili raman na nga anha ra magtuyok tuyok, necessarily mo-connect gyud na sa sunod (LGU) that is why there needs to be a provincial LPTRP nga maoy mo-integrate ani tanan and of course with the guidance of LTFRB,” Garcia said.

After the review by the LTFRB-7 and PPDO, another three-day workshop will be done to make adjustments and seamless integration of the traffic route plans of the LGUs then eventually a provincial LPTRP will be created to be submitted to the LTFRB Central office for approval.

“We are seeing that we will be able to do this in 45 days but we cannot control the approval. We hope that we might earlier submit,” Garcia said.

Montealto, for his part, thanked Garcia for her constant support to the government’s PUV modernization program.

He said the Capitol requested for extension of special permits while the LGUs are working on their respective LPTRP. The provincial government has committed to finish the local route plans within the 45-day timeline.

As soon as the LPTRP is completed, Montealto said these routes would have permanent PUVs.

 The LPTRP is in accordance with the Department of Transportation Department Order No. 2017-011, otherwise known as the Omnibus Guidelines on the Planning and Identification of Public Road Transportation Services and Franchise Issuance or simply known as the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines.

The key components of the PUV modernization program include LPTRP where local government units are required to prepare their own route plan.

“Kining mga routes, all going towards IT Park kay ang atong old routes wala pa maapil kining IT Park kay bag-o raman ni. Mao nga ang Local Public Transport Route Plan maoy gikinahanglan,” Montealto explained.

So far, only the municipality of Cordova, Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City and the City of Naga have been awarded a Notice of Compliance of their LPTRP by the LTFRB-7.- Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, FPL (FREEMAN)