Court to decide soon on petition of Mandaue City PUJ operators

CEBU, Philippines - The decision on the petition of a group of jeepney drivers and operators from Mandaue City asking for 20-day temporary restraining order against the Cebu City government may be out soon.

Regional Trial Court Branch 58 presiding judge Gabriel Inglis, after hearing the arguments between the two contending parties during the court’s hearing, ordered that the prayer for TRO be submitted for decision.

Lawyer Augustine Vestil, Jr., legal counsel of the Kahugpungan sa Mandaue Jeepney Operators ug Draybers Association Inc. (KAMJODA) argued that the 60 to 80 members of the association plying the route of Mandaue-Jones have been extremely prejudiced for the past several years since a city ordinance that banned them from plying Jones Avenue was passed.

Vestil said City Ordinance 1837 and the subsequent ordinances, which prohibits 21-B jeepney routes from plying the major thoroughfares of Cebu City is unfair, oppressive and confiscatory in nature.

He added that his client has long been planning to file a suit against the city but was hesitant to do so as the drivers might get the ire of the city government and its agents.

KAMJODA finally decided to file a civil case before the court last January 25, 2011 against the Cebu City government, Mayor Michael Rama (in his capacity as city mayor), the Cebu City Council, the Cebu Integrated Traffic Management (Citom) and Citom board chairman Sylvan Jakosalem.

The group is praying for the court to declare the four city ordinances as invalid but Cebu City Legal Office chief Joseph Bernaldez wanted the court to dismiss the petition for being “fatally defective.”

KAMJODA’s petition sought a TRO, declaratory relief, prohibition and writ of preliminary injunction.

Its president, Loreto Gerez, said City Ordinance 2214 (one of the four ordinances) already carries a very huge penalty of P4,500 and impounding of jeepney units if caught plying the prohibited route.

Gerez said they have a franchise approved by LTFRB and the city cannot just cut the travel line that is duly granted to the operators.

Vestil said despite his client’s existing certificate of public convenience, the city government implemented City Ordinances 1837, 1958, 2072 and 2214, that have caused the drivers and operators an “extreme economic and social prejudice.”

City Ordinance 1837 prohibits 21-B route jeepneys from loading and unloading passengers other than at the designated terminals, while City Ordinance 1958 that was passed in 2003, requires jeepney operators to pay registration fees for the use of a designated terminal.

City Ordinance 2214, that was passed on Oct. 14, 2009, prohibited 21-B jeepneys from plying Jones Ave. and Colon St.

City Ordinance 2072, amended Section 4 of City Ordinance 1837, that imposed a P300 storage fee per day for impounded jeepneys whose drivers are arrested for violating this ordinance. — (FREEMAN)