20 Mandaue PUJs stop plying Osmeña Blvd.

About 10 percent of public utility jeepney drivers from Mandaue City have ceased plying the Osmeña Boulevard for fear of being apprehended due to the implementation of City Ordinance 1837.

Antonio Pogado, chairman of the Nagkahiusang Drayber sa Sugbo, said that while they continue to question the legality of the ordinance, they could not force the drivers to continue with their usual routes because they are afraid that their vehicles will be impounded.

NADSU claimed membership over 90 percent of the jeepneys plying major thoroughfares in Cebu City.

Earlier, City Traffic Operations Management executive director Arnel Tancinco said that more than 80 percent of the jeepneys plying the Mandaue City-Jones Avenue route have committed three offenses, which are ground for impounding their vehicles.

Since the implementation of the CO 1837 two weeks ago, Pogado said that about 20 PUJs have already ceased running along Osmeña Boulevard. There are some 200 PUJs plying the Mandaue City-Jones Avenue route.

The ordinance bans Mandaue City PUJs and other intra-city jeepneys from plying the major thoroughfares of Cebu City. It only allows them to load and unload passengers at designated terminals.

Violators would be fined P300 and citation ticket on the first offense, P500 and citation ticket on the second offense and P700, including the impounding of the vehicle, on the third offense.

For his part, Rex Tidalgo, NADSU provincial coordinator, said that if the Cebu City government really wants to decongest the city's major thoroughfares, it should not single out the Mandaue City-Jones Avenue route jeepneys.

"There are more than 20 routes that ply Osmeña Boulevard. If their main basis is to decongest traffic, why do they single out Mandaue jeepneys? It is already harassment on the part of the drivers," he added.

Tidalgo explained that of the 200 more or less Mandaue City-Jones Avenue route PUJs, about 60 are now running until Ayala Center only. The remaining 140 do not run everyday, he added.

All in all, there are 700 to 800 Mandaue City PUJs that ply Osmeña Boulevard and Manalili routes.

"If we talk of traffic congestion, Mandaue City jeepneys are not the one that causes traffic in Jones," he stressed.

Tidalgo also said that CO 1837 is illegal because the city government has no authority to amend or shorten the routes of the PUJs, adding that only the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has the power to amend their routes and franchises.

Should CITOM continue to apprehend drivers and impound their jeepneys, he said that they would be forced to seek legal action because the traffic enforcers are not issuing impounding receipt before they impound vehicles.

Presently, Tidalgo said that only four vehicles are impounded. - Wenna A. Berondo