Letter to the Editor: Cuizon’s reply to Reader’s Views

This refers to the letter of Vayami Germo which saw print in your paper today.

I wish to reiterate my call for passengers to report to us violations of public utility jeepney drivers that they encounter on the road.  While we do conduct our own enforcement operations in support to the Land Transportation Office, we cannot possibly cover all violations committed by PUJ drivers each time.  Passengers are our force multipliers. We appreciate it when we receive complaints and we thus act on them accordingly.

As to the signage that the letter-sender suggests, this is already a requirement in all PUJs in the form of the fare matrix, just like registered establishments are required to display business permits.  Failure by a PUJ to display a fare matrix carries a penalty of two thousand pesos.

As to the suggestion of spreading the right information, the writer has obviously not been abreast of our ‘press releases” as he/she calls it.  Aside from the fare matrices posted in PUJs, such info has been spread by media and during our weekly hearings/meetings/drivers’ academy seminars. Without rationalizing, it is just perhaps by human nature that some drivers wantonly violate the rules.  Thankfully, LTFRB and the public work together on this without cussing.

As to the long commentary on the calibration of taxi meters, I’m sorry but this was halted due to a motion for reconsideration filed by taxi operators.  Needless to say, the example that he/she laboriously stressed has become irrelevant.  And since this was widely reported in media, how could the letter-sender miss it entirely?  If a person’s views are shaped by the information that one receives, I am therefore not at all surprised at the opinions that the writer has expressed.

Again, I wish to explain that LTO is the primary enforcer of transport rules and regulations.  LTFRB offices are not designed for this, which is why we only have 15 regular employees and only one office in a region of almost  30,000 franchised vehicles.  But even if our mandate is franchising, we still support LTO with limited activities in response to complaints generated through the “24/7 Hotline” poster required on all public utility vehicles.

Performing quasi-judicial functions, LTFRB can be likened to a regular court; but instead of criminal cases, it presides over franchise cases.  And just like when the police, acting on public reports, arrests criminals and bring them to court, LTFRB also depends on public complaints and the LTO or other agencies before it can hold a hearing on a reported franchise violation. You may call this “lousy,” but our “frozen minds” are duty-bound to uphold due process of law.

Thank you and we wish to invite Mr./Ms. Germo to visit us for further clarifications.

Very truly yours,

(Sgd.) AHMED G. CUIZON

Regional Director, LTFRB-7