Bus owners: Photos show ‘dismal’ MMDA terminal

MANILA, Philippines - A group of bus operators submitted to the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday photographs that purportedly support their bid to strike down a transport scheme that restricts buses from southern Luzon to an integrated transport terminal in Parañaque City.

The bus firms submitted to the high court photographs they said show the “dismal, depressing, and substandard” condition of the integrated transport terminal in Parañaque City, which they used as a ground in questioning the legality of the system.

They said the 23 photographs were submitted to support their motion for the issuance of a status quo ante order and or a writ of preliminary injunction against the scheme being implemented by Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) since August last year as part of the government’s effort to address the traffic problems brought by buses from the provinces entering the metropolis.

In their petition, they asked the SC to declare unconstitutional Administrative Order 40 pursuant to Executive Order 67 – both signed by President Aquino – and Memorandum Circular 2013-004, which were issued to implement the new transport scheme.

The photos belie the government’s claim that the terminal “is at par with international standards or even with local standards,” the bus operators said in an 11-page reply filed through lawyer Romulo Macalintal.

The photos show the “terminal’s true physical state, as well as the torturous hazards experienced by bus drivers, conductors, commuters, and even MMDA personnel assigned therein,” they added.

The petitioners – all operators of buses plying the Cavite-Manila route – were led by Angeles Bayot, Miriam Villena, Nila Santos, Angela Legalspi, Orlando Ocampo, Basilia Cruto and Diosdado Perillo.

Temporary, substandard

The bus operators said the Office of the Solicitor General’s (OSG’s) admission in its comment to their petition that the terminal is temporary proves that the facility does not meet the international standards of a bus terminal as envisioned by EO 67, issued by Aquino in 2012, which provides for an integrated system that is “at par with international standards which could provide an effective interconnections between different transport modes and services and will ensure efficient and seamless travel for the commuting public.”

They said the photos show that the terminal “does not even qualify” by local standards and is “hazardous to all persons entering its premises.”

Violated rights

The petitioners also reiterated that their constitutional right to due process and equal protection were violated for the sake of putting up an experimental terminal to prepare bus operators and commuters for the establishment of a more permanent integrated terminal.

 â€œThis contradicts all of respondents’ allegations stating that the establishment of the questioned integrated transport terminal project were well thought of, and were subjected to extensive studies,” they said.

The petitioners noted that based on the OSG’s admission that the terminal is akin to “training wheels,” the terminal was set up “to test the viability of establishing centralized bus terminals in Metro Manila.”

They said that the scheme forced them to cut their routes and use the terminal “in violation of their constitutional rights.”

The petitioners said the LTFRB’s decision to amend their certificate of public conveyance from Cavite-Manila to Cavite to the terminal, without giving them the opportunity to be heard, violated their rights to due process.