The chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board maintains no 200 taxi units will be added to the current number of vehicles allowed to ply Baguio and the rest of the Cordillera.
At the sidelines of the launching of modern jeepneys in Baguio recently, Delgra said city officials only need to be properly informed about the process in the operation of fleet taxi services based on the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines (OFG).
“Continuous ang coordination natin with the local government unit. Kailangan lang nilang mapagpaliwanagan,” Delgra said.
At the heels of the impending approval of the operation of 200 taxi units in Baguio, Mayor Benjamin Magalong last year warned the city government will file a restraining order to stop the LTFRB from proceeding with its plan.
Last August, the LTFRB-CAR already conducted pre-qualification of interested operators following the LTFRB central office’s lifting of the suspension on the acceptance of applications in October 2019.
In reaction, the city council passed yet another resolution opposing the LTFRB’s plan.
Delgra has maintained the 200 units will not add to the existing number of taxis for this will only replace abandoned or expired franchises.
A franchise is considered abandoned if the holder fails to confirm the franchise prior to registration of the authorized unit with the Land Transportation Office for two consecutive years. Those with expired holders are also given a chance to renew but if this is not renewed, it is also deemed that the former holder is disinterested, hence, government may award this to other applicants.
At present, there are 3,230 total units as of August 2020.
Appropriating abandoned or expired franchises is one of the three modes of acquiring a franchise as contained in the Public Service Act and supported by subsequent memorandum circulars of the LTFRB.
The LTFRB currently disallows the sale and transfer of franchises as the practice has been used by some enterprising individuals to sell the rights to operate a public utility vehicle when the same is issued for free by the LTFRB.
Records obtained by the Courier show that as early as 2009, the LTFRB issued Memorandum Circular (MC) 2009-035 opening applications for appropriation of abandoned and expired franchises for airconditioned taxis and buses but only in Mega Manila and regions 1, 3, 6, 7, 10.
In 2018, the LTFRB issued MC 2018-2011 that allowed appropriation of abandoned franchises in other regions in the country with condition that applicants should comply with the OFG.
Among conditions in the OFG are for applicants to be a juridical entity, should have a private off-street parking area, and vehicles should be Euro 4-compliant.
For the Cordillera and the Caraga region, LTFRB has issued MCs 2019-032 and 2019-016 that allowed the appropriation of 200 units for premium taxi services and 200 units for regular taxi services.
The Cordillera Basic Sectors Transport Corporation, Ermadrada Taxi Transport Cooperative, NJL Transport, and Trusted BLISTT Alliance of Transport Multipurpose Cooperative were among the first applicants that submitted their applications. The pre-qualification committee in the LTFRB-Cordillera has disqualified all applicants but they appealed to the central office.
In October 30, 2019 the LTFRB lifted the suspension and ordered the regional office to resume accepting applications.
In November last year, the LTFRB reopened the selection process and instead of the minimum of 200 units, the required number of units was a minimum of 25 and maximum 50.
In July 2, the LTFRB en banc set the prequalification of interested applicants on July 23 and opening of bids last Aug. 6.
Two cooperatives and two corporations all with 50 units each have been prequalified by the LTFRB.
Oppositors maintain that Baguio is already saturated with vehicles and the current number of taxis is enough to cater to passengers of the city and nearby towns. They also said there is no technical or scientific data that would prove that more taxis are needed.
Prequalified applicants still have to undergo another round of screening, which include a public hearing where oppositions to their applications will be heard. – Rimaliza A. Opiña
