PORAC -- Officials and members of the Pampanga Truck Owners’ Association (PTOA) and Quarry Operators’ Association appealed to Capitol executives to lift the “no plate, no travel” policy, saying it was adversely affecting the quarry industry.

PTOA president Arnold Liwanag said they have been experiencing difficulties anew in their hauling operations with the strict implementation of the policy, allegedly reinforced with an executive order issued by Capitol.

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Liwanag explained that some PTOA members who were apprehended for overloading, particularly by the Land Transportation Office (LTO)-deputized North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) weighbridge officials, have been refused their haul by quarry operators because their plate numbers have been confiscated.

“It seems they are giving us a hard time. They refuse to load our trucks at quarry sites despite us having temporary operating permits (TOP) from LTO. We are severely affected by the order and the resolution,” Liwanag said.

But Provincial Environment and Natural Resources head Sally Adonis, in a meeting with quarry operators and stakeholders, said the issue is not in their hands anymore since it is embodied in a Provincial Mining and Regulatory Board (PMRB) resolution.

“We are here to hear your grievances. As it appears, we would have to coordinate with NLEx authorities on this. All these concerns, including that of the Biyaya A Luluguran At Sisikapan (Balas) monitoring teams, would be subject to consultation with our Capitol executives. The Provincial Government is not anti-business,” Adonis said.

She told Sun.Star that as of Thursday, trucks of sand haulers whose plates have been confiscated will definitely not be loaded until higher officials address their concerns and talks with NLEx officials materialize.

Mike Tapang of the quarry operators’ group corroborated Adonis’s statements, saying he, as a quarry operator and trucker, would propose to PMRB a win-win solution that may address the problem.

“I am one with my fellow truckers and quarry operators on this. I would propose to PMRB and NLEx officials a solution, perhaps like just confiscating the driver’s license rather than the plate so the hauler could still make business trips at least here in the province. All of us are affected but we must also realize this is the law and that the executive department has the prerogatives,” Tapang told Sun.Star Pampanga.

Even Balas monitoring team head Nilo Quiambao moved for the “repeal” of the resolution, saying many of the quarry checkers in several checkpoints implementing the order have been allegedly harassed by affected truckers.

Several quarry operators in the meeting also sought for a temporary suspension of the policy as they, like their trucker-hauler customers, have been suffering from losses.

Provincial Administrator Vivian Dabu, for her part, told Sun.Star that they are seriously looking at the appeal of the various groups now.

“I just hope they will understand that we cannot do this overnight. There are a lot of technicalities and legalities involved here. But as many of them have seen, we have been constantly easing some provisions like giving an extra five percent to the supposed to be limit of 13.5 cubic meters per truck load. We want to help them and solve these problems but I ask for a little more patience. We are working on it and rest assured their concerns would be taken up,” Dabu said. (Jovi T. De Leon)