DOTC rejects Cebu PUV owners’ plea vs hefty fines

CEBU CITY—Two agencies of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) rejected a plea made by public utility vehicle (PUV) operators here to spare them from fines being imposed on erring PUV drivers.

In a recent dialogue with DOTC officials, Chiquito Obeso, head of the Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association, pleaded to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), two agencies under DOTC, to spare operators of PUVs from the hefty fines.

The hefty fines are designed to supposedly impose discipline among PUV drivers and serve as deterrent to traffic violations. The fees are also a means by the DOTC to raise funds.

But in next year’s national budget, the DOTC is seeking a bigger allocation that would supposedly be spent on the operations of a rail transit system in Metro Manila that every taxpayer in the country is subsidizing.

In a statement, pastor Benny Abante, a former member of the House of Representatives, said despite all the steps being taken by the DOTC to impose heavy fines on traffic rule violators, it is still unable to address major transport problems besieging highly urbanized areas in the country, including Metro Manila and Metro Cebu.

Abante said Congress should take a closer look at the proposed increase in the DOTC budget to find out if the department deserved it.

“The DOTC has to prove that it is ready to implement new projects since it has not proven the ability to improve mass transport services for our people,” said Abante, who was vice chair of the House appropriations committee during his term as legislator.

Abante said it would be unfair for taxpayers in the rest of the country to pay for the operations of the MRT, which would get P6.6 billion in increased allocation for the DOTC.

Subsidies from taxes alone for the MRT operation, he said, would amount to P4.6 billion.

Yet, he said, the DOTC has failed to improve the operations of the rail system that millions of commuters in Metro Manila use daily.

“The DOTC receives billions of pesos in funding for the MRT but it is perplexing how it cannot avoid inconveniencing passengers a total of 300 times in the past years because of different problems,” said Abante.

“For a rail service that is not even 15 years old and subsidized by the taxes of our people, I cannot understand why the MRT has so many of these unfortunate incidents,” he said, referring to accidents that befell the rail system.

During the dialogue with DOTC officials here, Obeso said he found it unfair for operators to be fined, too, for their drivers’ violation. Operators face fines of up to P15,000 for their drivers’ offenses.

Obeso said drivers are beyond operators’ control if they are already on the road. Carine M. Asutilla, Inquirer Visayas