Non-issuance of franchises irritates transport operators

BOHOL, Philippines  - Transport groups are crying foul and are seeking help over the continued non-issuance of franchises by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board for their units. They said the absence of a franchise renders their operation illegal.

Members of the city airport-based Bohol Island Operators and Drivers Multi-purpose Cooperative (BIODMPC) said they would also like an audience with President Benigno Aquino III when the latter visits Bohol today.

City tourist port-based Association of Bohol United Transport Services, Inc. (ABUTSI) and Bohol Tours Services Multi-purpose Cooperative (BTSMPC) and Dao terminal-based Jagna Van Operators & Drivers Association (JAVODA) also share the sentiments of BIODMPC.

A moratorium on the issuance of franchises issued by LTFRB is still in effect.

BIOMPC said it has among its members more than 100 units but only less than 10 percent have franchises that enable them to operate legally. The other units are reportedly operating without franchises.

Transport groups called for government agencies concerned like the Department of Tourism to "ease" the standard policies on transport services. They said they're willing to comply with the said standards in consonance with "road-worthiness" of their units ferrying visitors and tourists to their points of interest in the province.

Some of them lamented that even if the "moratorium" remains enforced, some authorities of the Land Transportation Office from Cebu are making rounds of apprehension that have incurred inconvenience on the part of their passengers and losses on their part as drivers.

In an interview Friday, the Bohol Tourism Office (BTO) through officer-in-charge Jo Cabarrus said it is supporting the call of the transport groups to lift the moratorium on the issuance of franchises.  (FREEMAN)