‘Require garage for PUVs’

A METRO Manila lawmaker on Monday urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to strictly enforce its order requiring owners and operators of public utility vehicles to have their own garage before receiving a franchise.

Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, a senior vice chair of the House committee on Metro Manila development, wondered why the LTFRB was not strictly implementing Memorandum Circular No. 2011-012.

The 2011 circular lists requirements for PUVs like taxi cabs, buses and jeepneys, including ownership of a garage, which should be inspected by the

LTFRB regional offices concerned before the issuance of a franchise for at least five years.

Gatchalian cited the urgent need to reduce the number of vehicles on streets to ease Metro Manila’s road congestion.

He said one reason for the massive traffic jams on Edsa and other major roads was the fact that secondary and even tertiary streets were full of illegally parked vehicles.