Another bus group goes to court vs Manila ban

A second transport group is questioning Manila’s bus ban in court.

Bus companies operating on the Alabang-Lawton, Cainta-Quiapo and Taytay-Quiapo routes filed a petition in the Manila Regional Trial Court on Wednesday questioning the legality of the measure, which seeks to ease traffic jams by barring the entry of buses without terminals in the city.

The companies’ officials had a dialogue with Mayor Joseph Estrada last month, which ended in an agreement to lower the fees at Park N’ Ride, a private terminal recommended by the city government for buses affected by the ban.

Apparently not appeased, the petitioners said the ban violated not only the terms of their franchise but also circulars issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government which state that vehicles that merely pass through a town or city “cannot be compelled to use public transport terminals established or designated” by the local government concerned.

The petitioners include the Alabang Transport Services Cooperative Inc., Arabia Boy Express, JNL Paet Transport Co., Tas Transport Corp., Erjohn & Almark Transit Corp., Maluto Trans and Travel Corp., RRCG Transport System Co. Inc., and Greenstar Bus Co. Inc.

Another group—the Fairview Quiapo Baclaran Bus Operators Association Inc.—initiated a similar legal challenge to the ban in August. Erika Sauler