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Saturday, September 03, 2005
Espinoza: Taking advantage of the situation
By Elias l. espinoza
NO RECOURSE. Cebu City Councilor Jack Jakosalem called my attention the other day in relation to the item in this corner about the City’s move to ban PUJs from Mandaue City from entering the city’s main streets.
In that column I mentioned that instead of forcing the issue, PUJ drivers from Mandaue City should just obey the ordinance and file a petition with the court later.
Councilor Jakosalem said the PUJ drivers no longer have recourse with the court because the petition they filed sometime in 2000 questioning the validity of City Ordinance 1837 was dismissed.
To show proof of this, the councilor faxed me a copy of the three-page decision of then Regional Trial Court Branch 16 Judge Agapito L. Hontanosas Jr.
In that decision, the court ruled that “no great and irreparable injury may be inflicted on the petitioners nor injustice committed against them if City Ordinance 1837 is implemented because the City of Cebu is empowered and authorized to enact this kind of ordinance under both the Revised Charter of Cebu City and the Local Government Code of 1991 for the purpose of regulating traffic and the use the streets within the city.”
Well, thank you Mr. Councilor. I did not know a petition seeking to nullify City Ordinance 1837 was filed sometime in 2000. Under the circumstance, PUJ drivers of the Mandaue-Cebu City routes should just comply. Defying City Ordinance 1837 would only aggravate their situation. Instead of earning, the drivers would be burdened with paying the fines for the violation if they insist on doing what they think is right.
Instead of crying over spilled milk, the affected drivers could turn the situation into their advantage. With the skyrocketing price of fuel, a shorter route means lesser fuel consumption and less wear and tear, with the fare remaining the same.
For commuters from Mandaue City and beyond, they have to rethink their priorities. Commuters don’t have to go Cebu City everyday for their home needs since supermarkets are already available in Mandaue.
City Ordinance 1837 is a law and everyone must respect it.
Despite the gargantuan problems this administration is facing, we are still a government of laws and not of men. Going to the streets will not make any difference.
The opinion of Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairperson Maria Elena Bautista that the powers of the LTFRB prevail over a municipal or city ordinance is not only tactless, but it also exposes her ignorance of the laws.
Even the granting of certificates of public convenience (CPC) to public utility vehicles carries a condition that this is subject to the rules and regulations of local government units.
Besides, the Local Government Code (Republic Act 7160) clearly provides that a municipality or city can regulate traffic as well as use of the streets. A specific law should prevail over a privilege or right. A CPC is merely a privilege.
In that decision, the court ruled: “moreover, there is no showing that City Ordinance 1837 is an arbitrary, oppressive and unreasonable ordinance. While petitioners claim that they are adversely affected by the said ordinance, there are others who contend that in the long run many operators of PUJ service, including petitioners, will be benefited therefrom. Let the future events determine if the ordinance in question fills the need of the times. No one should be afraid of change for change is always for the better.”
CONCERNS. A resident of Lahug, who happens to be a former classmate of mine in the college of law, sent me an e-mail last month to express her and her neighbors’ complaint about their community.
They listed the following concerns they felt barangay officials have neglected: 1) traffic in Salinas Drive Ext. caused by squatters; 2) PUJs not stopping in loading/unloading areas along JY Square; 3) lack of drainage in Laguerta; 4) poor state of newly concreted road going to Golden Valley; and 5) residents and students not using the skywalk in front of the elementary school and the absence of barangay tanods to enforce the use of the skywalk.
Calling the attention of Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann delos Santos.
(September 3, 2005 issue)
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