Amid benefits mess: Pantranco union leaders given fresh mandate

By Mydz Supnad 

BAGUIO CITY - The Union leaders of Pantranco Retrenched Employees Association (PANREA) and Pantranco Employees Association (PEA), were given fresh and overwhelming mandate from more than 2,000 employees, contrary to what “saboteurs” are floating in various newspapers.

In their manifesto of support, the employees said  they were giving full authority to PANREA president Romulo Alfonso and PEA president Jun Pascua to represent them in claiming their long overdue monetary  benefits derived from the sale of Pantranco franchise and other properties of the defunct Pantranco, a government controlled corporation.

We have been recognized by the courts, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, the National Labor Relations Commission and even the commercial banks. Most approve of our authority to represent the more than 2,000 employees, said Alfonso and Pascua.

The two union leaders also deplored a columnist in a national daily who was apparently “misled and paid” for writing a baseless and unfounded news, saying the columnist was just being used by the oppositors whose interest is to promote their own interest at the expense of the more than 2,000 employees.    

This developed came after the Department of Transportation and Communication denied that the DOTC cancelled the franchise of defunct Pantranco North Express, Inc.

DOTC Undersecretary Rafael Santos for planning and operations, said last week the Pantranco employees headed by its two union presidents Alfonso and Pascua of Pantranco, that DOTC Sec. Mar Roxas was just ordering the review on the status of the Pantranco franchise’s revival if it is in order, saying the DOTC did not cancel the franchise, contrary to what other bus competitors are floating in newspapers.

“Hindi naman kina cancel angprankisa e, kundipinare review langni Sec. Roxas,” Santos told the Pantranco leaders in a meeting inside the DOTC office in Ortigas last week.   

Pantranco employees led by Alfonso and Pascua held a rally in front of the DOTC office in Ortigas last week to protest what they called biased action and statement of  Roxas on the Pantranco franchise that was legitimately, they said, sold to the Hernandez family.

Prior to the selling of Pantranco franchise, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), ruled, after a legal battle and deliberations, that the bus franchise is legitimate and in order.

The LTFRB awarded the franchise to the employees who in turn, sold it to Hernandez family for their compensation as ruled by the Supreme Court.

Alfonso and Pascua said that the more than 2,000 employees of Pantranco was just asking “social justice” from the government after the bus company closed shop due to bankruptcy when the government took over its management and operations.

The selling of the franchise, however, caused the resignation of LTFRB board member Manuel Iway who  informed President Benigno S. Aquino III about his irrevocable resignation effective July 15, following attacks from other bus operators.

Iway and board member Samuel Garcia have outvoted LTFRB chairman Jaime Jacob in resolving the Pantranco issue, in favor of Pantranco employees, last month.

But Iway stood by his decision regarding the Pantranco case and said it was based on previous board decisions regarding revival of a franchise, and in compliance with the decision of the Court of Appeals, which would result in finally obtaining justice for more than 2,000 retrenched employees of Pantranco."

"As much as I admire the talents and work ethics of Secretary Roxas, as well as his right as DoTC Secretary to overturn the LTFRB’s decisions, I am pained that he would react to the Pantranco franchise incident in the manner that he did, and ultimately put your administration and LTFRB’s reputation in a bad light," Iway told the President in his letter.

"While I can assure you that there is no truth to those ridiculous claims, I know it will take a miracle to convince those who have no faith in your 'Daang Matuwid' policy and will continue to use the Pantranco franchise incident as another reason to attack your administration," he said.
           

The employees also accused Roxas of being biased allegedly for not listening to the employees and preferred to take the side of the rich bus companies whose interest is just to block the selling of Pantranco franchise to promote their own selfish interest.