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Thursday, March 13, 2003
Mandaue seeks LTFRB approval to operate buses
By Aledel A. Gonzales
PERHAPS the first local government unit in the country to do so, the Mandaue City Government is filing an application before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to operate at least six public utility buses.
The City Council recently approved Councilor Carlo Pontico Fortuna’s resolution authorizing Mayor Thadeo Ouano to make the application in behalf of the City.
It is the first time for a city government to engage in transporting people for a fee, Fortuna said.
“This entity becomes a common carrier, which needs a franchise from the LTFRB,” he pointed out.
The City owns six Daewoo buses that can accommodate 45 persons each. These will be used for the City’s mass transport system.
Like other privately owned buses, the City’s air-conditioned buses will pick up passengers in Mandaue and bring them to as far as Danao City in the north.
The routes for Mandaue-Danao-Mandaue and Mandaue-Lapu Lapu City-Mandaue will be given two buses each.
Two buses will also ply routes within Mandaue City.
However, no route for the south is provided after an observation that most workers in Mandaue come from the north.
The six buses will be different from the ones the City is allowing others to use for a fee.
The City also has two buses that private groups such as schools can rent for educational tours.
In an interview yesterday, Fortuna said that as a corporation, the City is entitled to run a business or economic enterprise.
“This is a business but as a common carrier, there is public interest involved,” he said.
Fortuna stressed that the City’s buses will not get “special treatment” because like other public utility vehicles, it will be subjected to the necessary inspections.
The buses will be shown to the public during Mandaue’s foundation day on April 7.
(March 13, 2003 issue)
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