Bus firm appeals cancellation of franchises

MANILA, Philippines - Saying it was not an “accident-prone” company, Don Mariano Transit Corp. has appealed the cancellation of its franchises following the fatal Skyway accident last year.

The bus firm filed the motion for reconsideration on Tuesday, asking the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to set aside its Jan. 14 ruling.

LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez said they would set the motion for hearing.

In the 24-page motion for reconsideration, the company said it has been providing “safe, satisfactory and quality service to the riding public” for more than 20 years.

The company claimed that before the Dec. 16, 2013 accident on Skyway, the last road mishap it got involved in was in 2012. It claimed that it has almost a hundred buses plying “some of the most congested routes” in the metropolis and the risk of its buses being involved in an accident “is always higher” than other firms.

According to the company, the cancellation of all its franchises was “too harsh a penalty.”

Earlier this month, the board cancelled the seven franchises held by Don Mariano covering 78 buses, following its investigation of the Skyway accident, which killed 21 persons, including the driver.

The board had taken into consideration the past accidents the company’s buses had been involved in and the discovery that the bus involved in the Skway accident had used a chassis that had been illegal transferred.

The company claimed the report on the supposed illegal transfer of chassis was “totally misleading and inaccurate.”

Don Mariano said the Highway Patrol Group stenciled the Japan assembly control number of the bus, not its chassis number. It insisted that the chassis is the same one duly registered with the Land Transportation Office.