APPARENTLY, City Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr. does not know about the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines issued through a joint memorandum circular by the DILG and DOTr last year, otherwise, he would not have dismissed the franchising issue and ping ponged the problem to LTFRB.
Our city has every right and has all the powers to regulate the number of taxis and jeepneys to be allowed in our city streets. Yes, the city hall can stop taxi franchising contrary to what he thinks; a power we have not exercised yet. Well in this case, it would suggest they do not know such power exists.
If Lao did his homework or if anyone in his committee did, they would know that under the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines, LGUs can plan its public transport routes based on their current and projected travel patterns in their areas. In our case in Cagayan de Oro, we are supposed to craft our Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) which will become the basis for franchise issuance by the LTFRB. In short, the power ultimately lies in the city, and rightly so because the city knows its jurisdiction and its problems better than any national office for that matter.
To add, there is actually nothing in governance that an LGU cannot put its hands on. By virtue of the devolution of power, all LGUs also acquire the four inherent powers of the state, to wit: police power, the power of taxation, power of eminent domain, and the power of corporation. Those are practically power over everything. Apparently most of these powers are wasted because our elected officials either do not know and are not confident enough to exercise them or are not interested to use them because they are too much of a hassle. The only one they mastered for sure is the power of taxation and perhaps a little bit of the power of corporation since both powers involve money.
Back to my point. This goes without saying that LGUs have the power to regulate anything in their exercise of police power provided that its reasons are for peace and order. And road congestion is very much an issue of order. They may not be the issuing agency when it comes to franchises, but surely through the LPTRP, they can compel the LTFRB to abide by what is only allowed and tolerable in our city.
This makes me wonder just how many of our local politicians really know their duties and are willing to take the extra mile to do them diligently. You see, it is always easier to pass the problem to another office or agency especially when there is nothing in it for them. In this case, coming up with LPTRP is just too much trouble since it would involve extensive research work.
I have nothing against Councilor Lao. I have not even met the guy. He is not even one of those known to have dirty hands among politicians. For all we know, he is a good apple. He probably just did not really know about the LPTRP. But he is supposed to know and that is also why we pay his team of employees to do research for him. It’s not just even about him and his staff because this issue involves the whole committee on public utilities.
Syaro, wa gyud bisan isa nag research?