PGNV, LTFRB seek solutions to transport woes

PGNV, LTFRB-R02 seek solutions to transport woes

Officials of the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board – Region 02 (LTFRB-R02) headed by Regional Director Edward L. Cabase paid a courtesy call on Provincial Administrator Maybelle Dumlao Sevillena on January 26, 2023 at the Provincial Capitol.

The meeting served as an avenue for preliminary bilateral talks on the issues and concerns raised by commuters and certain CDA-registered transport groups in the province which were elevated by PA Sevillena to the office of RD Cabase.

According to PA Sevillena “at least four (4) of the province’s consolidated transport cooperatives have expressed apprehension over their volatile situation having been granted by the LTFRB-R02 only a provisional authority to continue operating within their existing routes”.

“In view thereof, they appealed to the LTFRB-02, through the Provincial Government of Nueva Vizcaya (PGNV), for a fixed and long-term authority, and inclusion of their routes to the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP)”, PA Sevillena said.

The two government officials also tackled the clamor of hundreds of PGNV employees, most of whom come from the municipalities of Santa Fe, Aritao, Bambang, Bagabag, and Diadi, to be included too as beneficiaries under the national government’s “Libreng Sakay” (or free rides) Program.

PA Sevillena lamented that some employees even have to shell out as much as P400 a day for transportation. “That’s indeed a sizable amount, especially for those commuters with low-paying job positions, which should be better spent for other basic family needs, like food “, she added.

RD Cabase said that their office will look more closely into the appeal of the local transport groups and commuters, as he also informed PA Sevillena about the forthcoming rolling out of more eJeeps for the riding public.

Corollary to that is the recent declaration by the DBM of a P1.285 billion budget allocation for the said commuter-benefitting program pursuant to Republic Act No. 11936, or CY2023 General Appropriations Act.

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