By MAE SINGUAY
BACOLOD City — An official of Vallacar Transit, Inc. refuted the claim of a transport group that some Ceres buses in Kabankalan City were “out of route.”
Ceres buses have been passing by barangays Tabugon, Tampalon and Tagukon — areas supposedly out of their route — for more than a year now, said Teddy Macainan, chair of Alliance of Concerned Transport in Occidental Negros (ACTION).
“We have a franchise in Kabankalan City, and barangays Tabugon, Tampalon and Tagukon belong to that city. How can he say that we are out of route,” asked Jade Marquez Seballos, Vallacar Transit’s legal and media relations manager.
Ceres buses have a “special permit,” approved by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), to go through the said route, she stressed.
A special permit is issued by LTFRB when it identifies a need for transportation in a particular area; it is good for only six days, and a reapplication is needed before it expires, she said.
Macainan said the Ceres buses were taking passengers who could have boarded units of small bus operators. It is unfair, he stressed. The city government and the LTFRB did nothing about this, he said.
He claimed that Vallacar Transit’s permit is “for field trip only.” He also called on the Kabankalan City government to come up with a comprehensive traffic ordinance.
Atty. Julius Entila, counsel for the bus company, said a special permit is different from a special trip permit. It is either a bus operator applies for the special permit or the LTFRB itself applies for a bus operator, he said.
Meanwhile, ACTION member Jocelyn Dacumos said they want the authorities to do something about the “illegal terminal” used by some Bacolod City-bound small buses on Guanzon Street in Kabankalan.
She said that, in June last year, Kabankalan Mayor Isidro Zayco ordered the closure of that terminal, saying the “legal terminal” for small buses is now at the public market.
But many remained at the Guanzon Street terminal, she said.
“We wrote the Philippine National Police, the city mayor’s office, the committee on transportation chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Kabakalan, and the LTFRB about this, but none of them took action,” she said.
Dacumos said they want all public utility vehicles bound for Bacolod from Kabankalan to use just one terminal./PN
