ILOILO – Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. will be making a “representation” to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for the approval of the province’s Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP).
The DOTr returned the province’s LPTRP to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region 6 last week for “minor comment.”
“Si governor mismo ang naghambal sa amon nga kon ma-submit na namon, he will make a personal representation to DOTr secretary (Jaime Bautisita),” said Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) head Mario Nillos.
On March 23, the PPDO and the LTFRB had a Zoom meeting to discuss the “minor comment” made by the DOTr, including updated data in support of the proposed LPTRP in the province.
As of now, the provincial government is complying with the requested updated data, such as population growth in the province, said Nillos.
The LTFRB also wants the provincial government and the Iloilo City Government to discuss the entry to the city of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) from the so-called “first towns” (Leganes, Pavia, Oton, and San Miguel).
“They also wanted nga ma-meet pa kami sa city government para ma-istoryahan namon ang ‘first towns’ nga ruta and designated number of fleets nga dapat mabiyahe sa city,” added Nillos.
He said among the topics to be possibly discussed during the meeting next week is the identification of the designated loading and unloading areas of the “first town” PUJs in the city, especially the overlapping of routes.
Once the provincial and city governments reach an agreement, the provincial government will include it in the submission of the updated LPTRP to the DOTr.
The provincial government plans to resubmit the LPTRP to the DOTr by end of April.
On September 2022, the provincial government submitted the revised LPTRP to the DOTr that included eight developmental routes and more than 60 consolidated routes. It was returned only this March./PN
