Friday, February 08, 2008 Transport group wants vans for hire to use Kennon road
AS FAR as Jonie Itliong is concerned, no one should be allowed to pass through Kennon Road if Transportation Regional Director Federico Mandapat Jr. is adamant in keeping inter-regional vans from using it.
Itliong is the head of the Public Transport Affairs Office (PTAO). He is also the president of the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Associations of Baguio, Benguet, and La Union.
He based his proposal on the statement of Mandapat that the road, which is the shortest route to and from the lowlands towns in Pangasinan and Metro Manila, is 85 percent landslide prone and thus a hazard to commuters.
However, he observed private owned vehicles are still allowed to pass through the road even with the declaration by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Mandapat used the MGB report to ban vans from using Kennon Road. The order took effect September 1 last year.
"If the road is really hazardous to use, why allow private vans to pass and the not yellow plated (or vans for hire)?" Itliong asked. "It should be closed to all," he said.
He added that trucks are allowed to use the road even though the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has declared the road unfit for heavy vehicles, particularly those weighing more than 10 tons.
"The problem now is the DPWH and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) are in a tug-of-war for management of the road. Which one should we believe?" he added.
Itliong stressed that the road is the preferred route by vans for hire, especially those heading towards Pangasinan, because it is the shortest. When Mandapat ordered the road closed to vans for hire, the drivers complained of reduced income when they were forced to use Palispis (formerly Marcos) Highway.
Despite the appeals of the drivers and operators, Mandapat has stood pat by his order. A directive, which Benguet Board Member Juan Nazarro Jr., wants repealed.
Nazarro wants the road reopened to vans so that residents living along the 32 kilometer road can have alternate means of getting to and from Baguio where most work or study.
Kennon was closed to traffic immediately after the July 16, 1990 earthquake because of damages to its bridges. When the road was reopened a year later, it experienced a massive landslide practically closing the road for two years while workers tried to dig out the road. (SB)
