BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – The city government will allocate 100 car passes to provincial public utility jeepneys (PUJs).
According to Provincial Administrator Raul Banias, provincial drivers welcomed this new development.
Banias accompanied provincial jeepney drivers in a meeting with Sangguniang Panlungsod councilors Plaridel Nava, Joshua Alim and Lyndon Acap yesterday to find an acceptable arrangement on the car pass scheme.
The city’s car pass scheme limits the entry of provincial jeepneys to avoid congestion on the city’s main streets.
The original plan of the city was to give each town just four car passes. Provincial drivers, however, protested as this would drastically reduce their daily income.
During yesterday’s meeting, Banias said the provincial transport groups were satisfied with the city government decision.
The transport groups were represented by their umbrella organization, the Confederation of Iloilo Provincial Jeepney Operators and Drivers Associations (CIPJODA).
Banias said the 100 car passes will be apportioned to 33 transport associations under CIPJODA.
“We will consult them on how to equitably distribute the car passes,” Banias said.
This new car pass arrangement will be enforced once the Comprehensive Perimeter Boundary Ordnance is amended to include this new scheme, said Banias.
The city government will also be coming up with a new car pass design that is tamper-proof and hard to duplicate.
Nava, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s transportation committee, also expressed openness yesterday to the suggestion of provincial drivers that they be given specific loading and unloading points in the city to further ensure an orderly flow of vehicles.
He also vowed to check the conditions of transport terminals.
Also backing up the provincial jeepneys yesterday were Provincial Legal Officer Dennis Ventilacion and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Jun Mondejar, chairman of the Committee on Transportation./PN
