QC may cancel business permit of Florida bus after fatal plunge

The driver of the GV Florida Transport bus that fell off a cliff and killed 15 people in Bontoc, Mt. Province, on Feb. 7 may have been speeding, according to a government forensic team. RICHARD BALONGLONG

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City council is deliberating on asking the local government to cancel the business permit of the GV Florida Transport Inc., which owns the bus that plunged into a ravine and killed 14 passengers in Mountain Province in February.

The proposed resolution is under review by the council’s committees on transportation; on trade, commerce and industry; and on laws, rules and internal government. The city council has to approve the draft measure on second reading then confirm it on third and final reading before the request becomes official.

In his draft resolution, district 6 councilor Melencio Castelo Jr. asked his colleagues to endorse a recommendation to Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista to cancel GV Florida’s locally issued business permit. The company maintains a bus terminal along Edsa in Quezon City.

Castelo primarily cited the February 7 accident, where one of its buses fell into a ravine in Sitio Pagang, Barangay Talubin, Bontoc in Mt. Province and killed 14 passengers including two foreigners and Filipino comedian and activist Arvin “Tado” Jimenez.

The councilor said that, apart from the fatal crash, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has discovered several land transport regulation violations committed by GV Florida particularly in the registration of its fleet, which included the bus in the accident.

He pointed out, “The LTFRB found that the ill-fated bus is registered under the name of Mt. Province Cable Tours owned by Norberto Que Sr., the chassis and engine of the Florida bus were tampered with and not registered with the Land Transportation Office; and that the bus was not authorized to operate as a vehicle-for hire.”

Castelo added that the LTFRB earlier said that the bus company had committed “blatant multiple violations that cannot be tolerated because it puts people’s life in danger,” and said that the city government could cancel GV Florida’s permit to operate because of its violations.

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