MetroBriefs: 2 bus firms fined P1M each for Yule season violation

TWO BUS companies were slapped with a P1-million fine each for operating out-of-line during the Christmas holidays, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said on Tuesday.

In separate orders signed March 28, the LTFRB also canceled the franchise covering 10 units of Dimple Star Transport and six units of CUL Transport. Board member Ariel Inton said that during the inspection of bus terminals under “Oplan Krismas,” the LTFRB found out that a Dimple Star bus and a CUL Transport bus were operating without special permits.

The LTFRB did not find merit in the companies’ explanation that the bus assigned for provincial passengers which had booked and paid in advance could not make it due to heavy traffic and mechanical trouble.

During the hearings, Hilbert Napat of Dimple Star and Carolina Lam of CUL Transport said they had to tap any roadworthy bus available to address the “emergency situation” involving passengers who needed to spend the holidays with their loved ones. They said there was no time to secure a special permit as the deadline had elapsed.

But the LTFRB said that “while we commend the respondent’s intention,” the rules extend such leeway only to emergency cases involving patients needing immediate medical assistance or evacuation and the transport of goods to calamity areas. Dimple Star was fined an additional P5,000 for a Parañaque-Iloilo bus that was incorrectly marked for a Cubao-Iloilo route. Erika Sauler

Sena art workshops

PAINTER-TEACHER Fernando B. Sena is holding his Summer Art Workshop beginning April 3 with the following schedules and venues: Saturdays and Sundays, 9-11 a.m., at Triumph Building (between Hi-Top and the Shell station), Quezon Avenue, Quezon City; Mondays, 3-5:30 p.m., and Thursdays and Fridays, 9-11:30 a.m., at F.B. Sena Buenas Artes Art Facility at 77-B Alvero St., Loyola Heights, Quezon City; Tuesdays, 9-11:30 a.m. and 3-5:30 p.m., Vargas Museum, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, and Wednesdays, 9-11:30 a.m., Pepeton’s Restaurant, Mother Ignacia Street, Quezon City.

For more details, call UP Vargas at 9281927, Buenas Artes at 2752886, or Sena at 0947-4049716 or 0918-9519989.