BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO – Provincial jeepney drivers are restive. They fear losing passengers and sizeable income.
The Iloilo City government will implement the Comprehensive Perimeter Boundary Ordinance (CPBO) on Monday.
Under CPBO, passenger jeepneys from each town, except the “first towns” adjoining this city, will be provided with four car passes only.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. will be meeting with the transport sector from the province regarding the car pass system.
He expressed intention to meddle in the issue but he wants to understand it first before dipping his fingers.
The governor said he will convene the officers and leaders of various transport groups here next week and will hear concerns directly from them.
The CPBO regulates the entry of provincial jeepneys to the city to ease traffic congestion.
The impending implementation of the CPBO had compelled the provincial transport groups to appeal to the governor to intervene for their sake.
Among the concerns that the transport sector raised was that their livelihood will be definitely affected.
There is also a fear that the bulk of passengers from the province might get “stranded” in transport terminals because city loop jeepneys could not accommodate them all.
The first municipality that reacted on the car pass system was the municipality of Sta. Barbara that had been reclassified as a “second town” in the amended ordinance. It used to be a “first town” in the original PBO.
“First towns” are those nearest and adjacent to the city – Leganes, Pavia, San Miguel and Oton.
The Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Sta. Barbara, through a resolution sponsored by SB member Larry Deatras, asked the city government to hold the implementation of the CPBO.
Sta. Barbara’s Mayor Dennis Superficial said the city should have conducted a public hearing on the said new policy.
“We could have voiced out our side,” Superficial said.
The town mayor added that they are also concerned with the impact of the new policy on the passengers coming in and out of the Iloilo Airport which is partly located in Sta. Barbara.
He disclosed that since 2011, he had been sending letters to the city mayor asking for reconsideration but there had been no replies.
Superficial said the controversial city ordinance is not a cure-all to the traffic problems. Different sectors should be given the chance to air their side.
He added that the ordinance seems discriminatory because of the “first towns” and “second towns” classifications.
“I don’t even understand the logic or wisdom behind the classifications,” he intoned.
The town mayor, however, emphasized that “we don’t want a world war here.”
He revealed that he had already talked to Iloilo City’s Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog; the latter had encouraged him to send a letter to the city mayor asking for reconsideration./PN
