We should look into LTFRB regulations — Poe

Senator Grace Poe presiding over a senate hearing. PHOTO: INQUIRER.NET

SENATOR Grace Poe, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services, on Monday said some regulations and responsibilities of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) should be reviewed.

Poe said this in a July 8 text message to journalists who sought her comments regarding the “transport holiday” being staged today by some transport network vehicle services (TNVS) drivers and operators.

“What we should look into is not just the necessity of the requirements issued, but the scope of what the LTFRB can regulate and the consistency of its regulations,” Poe said.

“We need to strike a balance on the need to regulate and the need to serve the riding public,” she added.

The senator said that while she respects the LTFRB’s mandate to regulate the TNVS industry and to ensure the safety of commuters, she also recognizes calls to make the process of operating a TNVS easier, citing the need to adhere to the government’s Ease of Doing Business Act.

“Matagal na nating kinilala ang kakayanan ng industriyang ito na tugunan ang kakulangan ng maayos na transportasyon sa kalakhang Maynila. Bakit natin kailangang pahirapan ang lahat? (We have long recognized the capability of the [TNVS] industry to address the lack of an efficient mass transport system in Metro Manila. Why should we make it difficult for everybody?)” Poe said.

The senator said the LTFRB should not flipflop on its regulations, citing as an example the agency’s Memorandum Circular 2018-005 released in February 2018 that says it would allow existing hatchback cars already accepted to operate as a TNVS to continue operating for three years so their owners could recoup their investments.

The TNVS group is protesting the LTFRB’s supposed refusal to implement the circular.

“Siguro ay dapat rin nating malaman kung bakit napagdesisyunan ng LTFRB na hindi sundin ang sarili nilang circular, (We should know why the LTFRB has decided not to implement its own circular) Poe said.

She added “these are issues which have been raised in previous hearings of the Senate Committee on Public Services.”

Poe said she supports the dialogue scheduled tomorrow between the LTFRB and TNVS drivers.

On Monday an undetermined number of TNVS drivers and operators trooped to the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City, where they simultaneously switched offline.

Last week TNVS groups said the transport holiday is a protest against the LTFRB’s “pahirap policies” (or policies that make conducting business difficult) which include supposed inconsistencies in its processing of registrations and applications for TNVS. The groups are also protesting what they said are the LTFRB’s complicated requirements, slow processing and releasing of provisional authority and Certificate of Public Convenience.

TNVS drivers have said they will stage the transport holiday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.