The province’s transportation sector is appealing to the Palawan Provincial Board (PB) to speed up the formulation of the route plan to open more vehicle franchises.
Saidel Borris, the representative of the Dasek Shuttle Van Association, said Tuesday in the regular session of the PB that the provincial route plan is important since it is expected to resolve the franchising problem of shuttle vans.
Borris said this to explain the effect on their livelihood of the PNP Highway Patrol Group’s (HPG) crackdown against transport vehicles without franchises since 2018.
“Kami po sa transport industry [ay may request], puwede po bang ma-accelerate o sana bilisan ang processing ng route plan kasi malaki ang epekto ng walang franchise sa transport industry. Ang iba sa amin ayaw bumiyahe dahil huhulihin sila,” he said.
Borris said the effect is also felt by the passengers because they are asked to go down the vehicles without any transportation option.
“Nagpapatakbo kami ng sasakyan pero ang pasahero namin dalawa o tatlo lang dahil ayaw na nilang sumakay kasi kapag nahuli [ang sinasakyan] pinapababa sila. Kaya sa highway patrol naman kung papababain nila doon na lang sa may sasakyan na malilipatan hindi ‘yong iiwan sila sa highway tapos mag-aabang ng sasakyan na dadaan,” Borris added.
Previously, the provincial government announced that commuters and motorists should expect new routes both for private and public vehicles before 2018 ends.
Currently, the provincial government is still in the process of finalizing the route plan, which still needs the approval of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
Board Member Winston Arzaga, chair of the committee on transportation, recently said that the planning office will submit the final proposal of the route plan to the PB for approval.
“Sana ngayon na [mabigay sa provincial board] para ma-adopt namin ‘yan. Wala naman kaming maa-adopt kung walang binibigay sa amin. So, dapat talaga ngayon na nga ‘yan kasi matagal na ‘yan,” Arzaga said.
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