Sunday, November 18, 2007 Mandated PUV stickers hampered
THE ordinance mandating the use of color-coded, pre-numbered and tamper proof stickers on all public utility vehicles here could not be implemented by the City Treasurer's Office for want of technical knowledge in verifying legal franchises or certificates of public convenience (CPC).
This prompted City Treasurer Thelma Manaois to ask the City Council to amend Ordinance 50-2007 and delegate its implementation to another department of the City Government.
She suggested the Traffic, Transportation and Management Committee (TTMC), under the City Planning and Development Office, be the one to handle the ordinance's implementation.
Implementation is also hampered by the absence of funds to jumpstart the ordinance.
Although the City Council allotted P500,000, the Local Finance Committee has to certify that funds are available for the purpose, Manaois explained.
Baguio City has over P1-billion savings deposited in the bank.
Acting Vice Mayor Rocky Thomas Balisong meanwhile assured that the Council would study Manaois' request.
He said the council would come up with the implementing rules and guidelines instead of amending the ordinance.
"They just need to know the mechanics," Balisong told reporters, adding that receipt of CPCs by the CTO is a ministerial duty because it would be the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board that would evaluate if CPCs were legally issued.
Balisong said the design of the stickers is now being finalized.
Ordinance 50-2007 mandates the posting of tamper-proof stickers on the windshields of all PUVs.
The ordinance was passed in reaction to the observed increase in the number of PUVs despite a moratorium on the issuance of CPCs.
The stickers would contain the official seal of Baguio City as well as the signatures of the mayor, the director of the Department of Transportation and Communication and the city treasurer.
The stickers are also pre-numbered according to the number of franchised vehicles contained in the records of the LTFRB.
The ordinance requires drivers and operators to submit to the CTO certificates of authentic vehicle registration and CPC signed by the records officer and regional director of the LTFRB and Land Transportation Office, respectively.
The CTO meanwhile would match these documents with the records of the LTFRB provided to the city government.
Taxicabs would be issued red stickers, yellow for buses, green for jeepneys and blue for vans-for-hire.
An operator found violating the ordinance would be penalized P1,000 and/or imprisonment or not less than 30 days upon the court's discretion for the first offense; P2,000 and/or imprisonment of not less then three months, also upon the court's discretion for the second offense and P3,000 and/or imprisonment of not less than six months and revocation of franchise for succeeding offenses. (RO)
