Bus firms to SC: Restore ‘boundary’ system

Four groups of bus operators Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to nullify an order by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that required them to set fixed salaries for drivers and conductors, four days after the order took effect in Metro Manila.

In a petition, the bus firms said DOLE’s Department Order 118-12 and the similarly intended Memorandum Circular 2012-001 of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), should be declared unconstitutional.

They argued that the two orders violated their companies’ various agreements with their employees.

The petition, which asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO), was filed by the Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines, Southern Luzon Bus Operators Association Inc., Inter-City Bus Operators Association and the City of San Jose del Monte Bus Operators Association.

It sought to stop the DOLE, the LTFRB and related agencies from replacing the so-called “boundary” or commission system that the bus companies had been implementing for years.

“(The DOLE order) violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution as (it was meant) to cover only Metro Manila buses and not the entire transport sector throughout the country, even though they are in a similar situation,” the petitioners also said.

The DOLE order also forced them to “abandon existing hiring arrangements (based on) payment by results or on commissions basis, or payment by incentives,” as well as their existing collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), they said.

In many instances, these agreements had resulted in “higher pay for drivers and conductors, more than what the minimum wage levels offer,” they claimed.

LTFRB and DOLE officials said the new wage system for bus drivers and conductors would help reduce road accidents. Under the old boundary system, drivers tend to commit traffic violations, like reckless driving, just to get as many passengers as they can.