ACTO mulls suing Dagupan officials
‘NO’ TO 2-DAY CODING
THE Alliance of Concerned Transport Operators (ACTO) is keen on stopping the controversial two-day coding scheme for public utility vehicles (PUVs), prohibiting each unit from operating two days a week.
After failing to convince the city hall to shelve the scheme, the operators’ group is now considering the option to file a complaint before the Ombudsman against Dagupan City officials for abuse of authority.
ACTO is the mother organization of the Alliance of United Transport Organization Provincewide (AutoPro) in Pangasinan whose members were affected by the two-day coding of PUVs, particularly jeepneys.
ACTO Chairman Efren de Luna told newsmen in Dagupan City on May 18 that the two-day coding is deemed illegal since a local government unit can not restrict the operations of PUVs with duly issued franchise to operate by the Land Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Board (LTFRB).
At the same time, AUTOpro’s Benny Aquino claims that the police and the Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) have not been doing anything to curb the increasing number of colorums plying the streets of Dagupan.
He challenged POSO chief Robert Erfe Mejia to resign since he cannot stop the colorum vehicles from operating in Dagupan roads.
De Luna said the group’s members in Pangasinan have asked the mother organization to intercede because the enforcement of the two-day coding every week per a Dagupan City ordinance enacted in 2005 prevented them from earning enough as their income has long been badly affected.
Aquino said their petition for the removal of the controversial two-day coding is repeatedly ignored by city officials.
He added his group also plans on forward the problem to national officials, including President Benigno Aquino III, because Dagupan, he said, is the only local government unit in the country that imposes such a restriction.
“I understand that the two-day coding scheme was implemented to reduce the number of motor vehicles playing Dagupan roads, contending then that LTFRB had over-issued franchises to PUVs entering and plying Dagupan City,” De Luna said, adding “But the problem is while the legal PUVs were not allowed to operate for two days, the illegal ones or colorums or those sporting green plate numbers had taken their place. This is not good.” –LM
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