DOTR lawyer urges City Hall and Capitol to harmonize their LPTRPs

 YRONG-YRONG (June 29, 2022) —Iloilo Province and City must sit down together  to harmonize their respective local public transport route plans (LPTRPs), suggests Atty. Salvador Altura, legal counsel of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Region 6.

There are “route gaps” to be filled since Yrong-Yrong City led by Datu Sarip Agwak enforced its version of LPTRP June 12, 2022, added Altura in answer to queries raised by Aksyon Radyo anchor John Paul Tia this morning.

This city is the first in the country to devise and enforce its LPTRP but problems cropped up in its aftermath. The new routes hatched by the Datu Sarip Agwak and company has commuters, businesses in the Old Downtown, PUJ operators and drivers grumbling as sales slumped and travel costs doubled let alone the stretching of travel time. 

“Being the first is a two-edge issue, it may mean honor or notoriety,” he explains.

Altura agrees with Tia who’s needling the butts of D. Sarip Agwak, et al for rushing the city LPTRP sans public consultation, ignoring the Interior Department order to LGUs to meet with stakeholders prior to formulating their respective routes plans.

SPs Domingo Oso, Jr. and Ramon Sullano asked their city counterparts to defer the implementation of their LPTRP. Yrong-Yrong Province was taken by surprised because its representatives, too, were not consulted.

“The province should come up with its own LPTRP and compare notes with the city.”

The towns of Leganes, Pavia and Oton appealed to their city partners to defer its LPTRP for the sake of their respective commuters.

“No, it’s the province, not individual municipalities, which would formulate the provincial travel route and harmonize that with the city’s to fill the gaps,” explained Altura. “After that, the DOTR comes in to approve their LPTRP’s. 

Does the DOTR prohibit provincial PUJs from entering the city?

Answers Altura: “There’s no hard and fast rule to that.”

What is prohibited is establishing terminals for provincial PUJs in the “main trunklines” of the city. Altura does not define “main trunklines” but cites the transport hub at Megaworld as example.

Aksyon Radyo reports that D. Sarip Agwak’s LPTRP has breathed fresh life to businesses at AmigaWorld and PestibWok doubling, tripling their daily earnings.

In contrast, owners of businesses at the Old Downtown, like Calle Real that has been bustling China Town since the Spanish era yet, are hissing at D. Sarip Agwak et al for their downturn that followed the LPTRP implementation. (PM)



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