LTFRB seizes PUVs operating sans franchises in Northern Mindanao

THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-Northern Mindanao has apprehended close to a dozen public utility vehicles (PUVs) operating without franchise documents as teams of combined transport agencies have conducted a series of operations in time for the observance of Lent.

As of Wednesday, the agency was able to apprehend 10 vans and a bus without franchise permits ferrying passengers from Cagayan de Oro City bound to other parts of Mindanao, said LTFRB-Northern Mindanao director Aminoden Guro.

He said the vans were bound for Davao; Butuan; Manticao, Misamis Oriental; and Camp Philips, Bukidnon, while the bus was operating the Malaybalay-Kibawe route.

One of the vans, which was apprehended last December, was released in February after the owner paid the corresponding penalty.

“These confiscated vans and bus have no authority to solicit passengers. They are considered ‘colorum,’” Guro said.

At present, the vehicles are impounded at the LTFRB compound while the owners are subjected to legal procedures.

After the LTFRB has decided that these PUVs are indeed operating without franchise, owners are penalized by paying P200,000 for each van and P2 million for the bus.

Meanwhile, the transportation authorities have also conducted monitoring of public utility vehicles (PUVs) in bus terminals and have the buses checked for road worthiness.

Combined personnel from the LTFRB, Land Transportation Office, and Highway Patrol Group have made the rounds in bus terminals and have set up checkpoints along the highways to implement the “Oplan Biyaheng Ayos.”

Guro said as his office has met with bus operators as early as last week to remind them that their units must not only be roadworthy but must also be compliant with the agency’s Omnibus Franchising Guidelines which requires public buses to have such amenities as global positioning system (GPS), wireless internet connection (Wi-i), dashboard camera, closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera, among others.

Guro said he has also emphasized to bus owners that their drivers must be physically fit to drive, adding that buses must have extra drivers on board for units travelling lost distances or for more than six hours, especially those bound for Zamboanga and other areas in Mindanao.

Francisco Adonis III, Pabama Tours operations manager, said they might consider deploying their buses on Good Friday depending on the demand of the riding public.

Pabama Tours, one of the major bus companies operating in some parts of Northern Mindanao, has more than 50 units plying the Bukidnon and Gingoog routes.

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