AN OFFICIAL from the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal clarified that no picking of passengers outside the terminal is not a new regulation, and this is for the safety of passengers and to decongest the traffic caused by momentary stoppage of buses along roads in doing so.
DCOTT Manager Aisa Usop, in an interview over the Madayaw Dabaw program, said that the no-picking of passengers strongly implemented by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has a counterpart on the local government side.
"Atong iinform ang katawhan nga dili na siya bag-o nga balaod, in fact existing na siya nga ordinance sa diha pa nga gi-create ang atong Davao City Overland Transport Terminal, that is Ordinance 110 nga gi-amendyahan usab sa atong Ordinance 0192 nga nag ingon nga dapat diha gyud ang loading and unloading sa atong terminal nga ang DCOTT (We would like to inform, the public that this is not a new law, in fact it is an existing ordinance upon the creation of the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal, that is Ordinance 110 and amended by Ordinance 0192 that prescribed that the loading and unloading should be done in the DCOTT terminal)," Usop said.
Usop said that Davao City is very particular with security, the reason aside from the ordinances mentioned, the DCOTT Board also passed a resolution to reiterate
these ordinances and implement a strict implementation of no-pick-up policy in light of the bombing incidents involving buses in the neighboring provinces and municipalities, and also to decongest the traffic.
As to concerns of residents who are living far from the terminal, Usop said that DCOTT, the Southern Mindanao Bus Operator's Association, and the security cluster, are currently studying the proposed stopovers outside terminals.
Usop said that bus operators have a huge role in the implementation of the ordinance, and residents also have a big role in cooperating with the implementation.
Buses caught picking up passengers, based on the Administrative Joint Order of the Department of Transportation, will face a P5,000 penalty for the first offense, P10,000 for the second offense with a warning to confiscate the franchise, and P15,000 for the third offense with non-renewal of the franchise. CIO