By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
MANILA – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is expecting the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss two more petitions against the public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP) following the dismissal of Bayyo Association, Inc.’s (Bayyo) petition Thursday.
In an interview over Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon on Friday, LTFRB chair Teofilo Guadiz III said the junking of Bayyo’s petition due to lack of legal standing and violation of the principle of hierarchy of courts would likely result in more similar decisions.
“Ako ay tiwala na ganoon din po ang mangyayari. Ito ay ibabasura at ito po ay ibaba sa mga trial courts or sa Court of Appeals para po litisin iyong mga issues na idinulog po ng mga naghain ng petition kontra dito sa PUVMP (I’m positive that this will happen again. These will be dismissed and will be brought down to the trial courts or the Court of Appeal to facilitate these complaints made by their petitioners against the PUVMP),” Guadiz said.
In response to Bayyo’s announcement that it will appeal the SC dismissal, he said the petition of the coalition of jeepney drivers and operators should have been filed with the lower courts first.
“Ang ultimong remedyo po nila dito is to refile the case back to the trial courts (What they’ll have to do in the end is re-file the case back to the trial courts),” Guadiz said.
He reiterated that the PUVMP is necessary to help bring the country’s public transport sector on par with the rest of Southeast Asia.
“We need to modernize our jeepneys to make them safe and comfortable and accessible public transportation, and the only way to do that is to modernize our transportation system,” he said.
To date, he said consolidation of PUV operators nationwide has reached 80 percent, up from 76 percent in January.
On the other hand, consolidation in the National Capital Region is at 96 percent, excluding PUVs that have no franchise or other necessary documentary requirements. (PNA)
