_: Drivers and operators of public utility vehicles in Central Visayas can directly inquire about the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board field office, an official said Friday.
Eduardo Montealto Jr., regional director of LTFRB-7, issued this statement after some members of cause-oriented groups set up a ‘Help Desk’ in front of the public agency’s office, installing tarpaulins telling the public that members of the group entertain questions about franchise concerns.
‘Notice to the public. We don’t have any help desk outside our regional office. This installed help desk just outside our office is not ours, and we are not allowing anybody on our behalf to do franchising processes,’ Montealto said in a message sent to the Philippine News Agency.
He said they suspected the group that established the unauthorized help desk was the same group that held protests in front of their office before the Christmas break.
He lamented the way the cau
se-oriented group deceived the public about the PUV modernization program, saying they should not usurp the function of the agency in informing the public about franchising issues and concerns.
He said the help desk was seen at the vicinity after around 10 members of the transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) staged a rally at around 3:10 p.m. on Thursday, and tapped a priest to hold a Holy Mass.
The protesters flashed placards expressing their opposition to the PUV modernization program, which put a deadline for the consolidation of transport groups into cooperatives and corporations on Sunday, Dec. 31.
‘LTFRB7 is open to process consolidation on the weekend, even on Saturday and Sunday, until December 31, 2023,’ Montealto said.
Source: Philippines News Agency