LGUs told to draft PUV route plans

CEBU CITY – Governor Gwendolyn Garcia ordered all local governments to complete their detailed route network plan for the modern public utility vehicles plying the routes to and from different localities.

In an executive order, Garcia instructed all municipalities and cities to submit a draft Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) within 45 days.

Within the period, 170 modern PUVs have been allowed to ply the routes to and from Liloan, Consolacion and Mandaue in the north and Talisay City, Minglanilla, and Naga City in the south, after Garcia endorsed the special permits issued by Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-Central Visayas.

“They have 45 days. That is the short-term solution because we are faced with a possible crisis. The long-term solution would be, we have already scheduled by the first of February for three days, we will call all the city and municipal planning officers of all the LGUs of Cebu together with their chiefs or heads of traffic and enforcement division, to undergo a 30-day seminar to be conducted by the LTFRB,” Garcia said.

The seminar, she said, will provide the planning officers and traffic officers with the technical perspective for the drafting of LPTRP that will address the transport needs of the respective localities.

LTFRB-7 regional director Eduardo Montealto Jr. said an LPTRP is a plan passed by an LGU’s Sanggunian (council) detailing the route network, mode and required number of units per mode for delivering land transport service, which was set as the minimum requirement prescribed for the issuance of PUV franchises.

According to Garcia, the provincial government will ensure the planning and traffic officers could come up with the transport route network plan of their respective localities within the 45-day window given to the 170 modern PUVs now operating under special permits.

“Mismo kada LGU mo-come sa ila mga rota but di na kay ana ra nagtuyok-tuyok necessarily mo-connect gyud na sa sunod that is why there has to be the provincial government nga maoy mo-integrate ani tanan and of course with the guidance of LTFRB,” Garcia said. (John Rey Saavedra)