PUV operators insist that CITOM can't collect fines

MANILA, Philippines - The public utility vehicle operators and drivers operating in Cebu City continue to argue that the City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) has no legal authority to compel them to pay their pending fines that already prescribed.

Several PUV operators headed by Ryan Benjamin Yu, the president of City Integrated Transport Services Cooperative (Citrasco), trooped to Cebu City Hall and talked with CITOM executive officer Rafael Christopher Yap.

Yu is very concerned about the move of the Cebu City Council to amend certain provisions of the ordinance about the granting of travel lines to the PUV operators to compel them to settle their pending fines.

Councilor Richard Osmeña, chairman of the City Council’s committee on traffic management, had proposed to amend the existing ordinance so that the PUV operators can be granted only with travel line by CITOM after they settle their pending fines with the Traffic Violations Bureau. 

Yap said there are some PUV operators that have pending traffic-related fines amounting to P200,000 or even more because their drivers are constantly violating the traffic laws and were just issued traffic citation tickets.

According to Yap he will not agree to the demand of the PUV operators and he will strongly support the proposed ordinance sponsored by Osmeña, who is also a member of the CITOM Board.

“Kinahanglan nga mo-take sila og responsibility sa binuhatan sa ilang mga draybers kay sila man ang nagpili kinsa ang padad-on nila sa ilang sakyanan,” Yap explained.

But the PUV operators argued that Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code provides that crimes or any violations will prescribe depending on the nature of the case if the government failed to initiate legal action within the period.

Traffic violations are considered light offense, meaning it will prescribe after two months if the concerned government agency failed to initiate legal actions against the erring drivers.

The travel line that can be secured only from the local government units is one of the requirements of the PUV operators for securing franchise with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Because of the difficulties, there are dozens of PUVs that are impounded at the city’s impounding area at Block 27, North Reclamation Area and many of them have already deteriorated because the area do not have roof.

The state audit procedures allow that impounded vehicles are to be disposed through public auction if the owners failed to redeem the units within six months period. - (THE FREEMAN)