Tuesday, October 09, 2007 Route 10 drivers protest arrests By Carlo P. Mallo
MORE than a hundred jeepney drivers held a picket in front of the Land Transportation Office-Southern Mindanao (LTO) Monday to protest what they called as illegal arrest of some of their members last week.
Sun.Star learned the ruckus stemmed from an order of LTO Operations Chief Leonor Calderon last Monday to apprehend jeepney drivers with the Route 10 franchise who were plying outside their original route.
Another transport group was said to have complained to Calderon.
Route 10 services the downtown to Bajada route through Claveria, R. Magsaysay, Quezon Boulevard, J.P. Cabaguio, J.P. Laurel, Acacia, Ponciano Reyes, Rizal, Anda, Magallanes, Bonifacio Rotunda and then back to Claveria.
The experimental route passes through Ponciano Reyes, Rizal, Bolton and San Pedro instead of Ponciano Reyes, Bolton, Rizal and Anda.
Route 10 drivers asserted that the "new" route they were using was a temporary alternate route still being experimented upon. The route has been approved by the Traffic Management and Control Board, of which the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board and the Land Transportation Office are members.
The drivers, belonging to the Route 10 Multi-Purpose Cooperative, said they were illegally apprehended as the route that they used was legal and has already been approved.
Efforts to reach Calderon or any official from the Land Transportation Office-Southern Mindanao proved futile.
