Olongapo City Council Appeals to LTFRB

The Olongapo City Council thru Resolution No. 131 (2009) reiterated its request to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) “to course all applications for Certificate of Public Convenience for Olongapo City through the Office of the City Mayor for appropriate endorsements and to declare Olongapo City as a ‘saturated area’ for public utility vehicles.”

This request is in connection with the LTFRB’s approval of a bus company’s franchise to operate in Olongapo City without prior recommendation or endorsement from the city government.

Sponsored by Councilor Jhong Cortez, the said resolution states that there are already around four hundred (400) buses or mini-buses from transport companies and cooperatives such as Victory Liner, Saulog Transit, Arayat Transport, ZAMODCA, shuttle vans and taxis that ply around the territorial jurisdiction of Olongapo City and any addition to the existing number of PUVs must first be studied by the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) together with the Office of Traffic Management and Public Safety (OTMPS) due to the negative impacts of any such addition may bring to the local economy and traffic condition in the city.

It can be recalled that in 1989, City Council Resolution No. 36 not only pronounced the same request but also states the verbal agreement forged among the then National Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Remedios Salazar Fernando, LTFRB Region III Director Lino D. Lomongo with then City Mayor Mayor Richard J. Gordon that no franchise to operate a public utility vehicle in Olongapo City shall be considered without the corresponding endorsement from the Mayor of Olongapo City.

Pao/sara