Tragic Bontoc accident Bus firm hopes LTFRB won’t appeal CA ruling

By Charlie Lagasca

TUGUEGARAO CITY , Cagayan – Cagayan-based GV Florida Transport expects to resume its operation next month after the Court of Appeals (CA) lifted the six-month suspension order imposed by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) after one of its buses figured in a fatal accident in Bontoc, Mt. Province last Feb. 7.

GV Florida spokesman Rey Luis said the bus firm’s management hopes that the LTFRB would no longer file a motion for reconsideration and instead comply with the CA decision. 

“We expect to resume our operation next month. But this would depend on the LTFRB. We don’t know if they will file a motion for reconsideration, although they were given the chance to contest our motion during the hearing,” he said.

Luis said GV Florida cannot just field its buses immediately since the license plates of its grounded buses and other necessary documents are still in LTFRB’s custody. 

LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez said they are studying their “legal remedies” to the CA ruling.

Besides Cagayan Valley, GV Florida, one of the biggest bus companies in northern Luzon, also operates in the Ilocos and Cordillera regions.

In an 18-page decision dated June 26, the CA’s 14th Division said the LTFRB’s sanction against GV Florida constituted grave abuse of discretion, as the six-month suspension was “grossly disproportionate” and “without any factual and legal bases.”

The suspension of the bus firm’s 28 certificates of public convenience covering 186 buses was handed down “in the absolute absence of a violation or wrong committed,” it added.

The Bontoc mishap left 15 people dead and at least 31 others injured.