Poe seeks DOTr explanation on bus exemptions, Lizada complaint

Sen. Grace Poe has asked the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to explain the alleged irregularities and passenger complaints hounding the newly opened Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITx).

The senator on Thursday released a copy of her Dec. 19 letter to the DOTr asking why it had exempted 159 out of 1,000 bus operators from an order limiting their routes to the PITx.

The P2.6-billion terminal was supposed to serve as a hub for provincial buses to ensure that only city buses would enter Edsa.

But policies issued by the DOTr and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) threw the PITx’s operations into chaos, drawing flak from commuters and prompting a Senate inquiry.

Poe also asked Transport Sec. Arthur Tugade to conduct an internal investigation into allegations made by former LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada that her signature was falsified in the LTFRB memorandum circular that granted the exemptions.

Lizada, now a commissioner of the Civil Service Commission, a new post she was given after months of infighting in the LTFRB, said she was opposed to that memorandum because of its “manifest partiality to some bus operators.”

In a Dec. 4 Senate committee hearing on the PITx operations, Lizada accused LTFRB chair Martin Delgra of falsifying her signature on the circular.