PUV staging areas / Tourist, UV express services out of city streets / Project checks

CITY HALL BEAT

Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – Tourist transport and utility vehicle (UV) express services will no longer be allowed to use staging areas, parking spaces and public streets in the city effective March 17.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong issued Executive Order No. 50 revoking all administrative orders and similar issuances that allow these vehicles to utilize temporary staging and parking areas and public streets being administered and regulated by the city and for said services to permanently vacate said premises.

The service companies were given 15 days from the effectivity of the mayor’s order dated March 3, 2020.

In his order, the mayor said reports had reached him that colorum vans or services are being clandestinely allowed to load and unload in temporary staging areas, pick-up and drop points allotted to the tourist transport and UV express services in the city in exchange for paying regulatory fees.

“This kind of scheme endangers the safety and escalates the risks for the riding public and it adds to the difficulty of ascertaining whether the vehicles servicing the public are colorum or not,” the mayor said.

He said the privileges given to said services to use the spaces are just temporary and given that they are being abused now need to be revoked.

The mayor added that as holders of franchise or Certificate of Public Convenience, these services should have their own off-street garage, terminals and hop-on hop-off points in compliance with Department Order No. 2017-011 or the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines of the Dept. of Transportation and Communication, Memorandum Circular No. 2017-30 or the Guidelines for Off-Street Terminal Operations) of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and Memorandum Circular No. 2017-027 or the Implementing Guidelines for Garages.

He said there is a need to weed out colorum vehicles which continue to proliferate in the city despite the passage of Ordinance No. 55-2017 or the Anti-Colorum Ordinance in 2017.

The mayor tasked the City Engineering Office and the Baguio City Police Office to enforce the order.

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The adoption of new schemes involving staging areas of public utility vehicle trunklines servicing Benguet towns is part of the traffic decongestion strategies being implemented in the city and not a way to get back at the province for disapproving a city project.

Mayor Magalong in the Ugnayan press briefing Feb. 26 belied claims that the city purposely moved the terminals of some Tuba trunklines to another place to get even for the rejection of the city’s piggery contract farming project.

The city will never resort to such feeble acts just because of a small debacle.

“It is unfortunate that the community did not accept the project and they were supported by their mayor so we can’t do anything but to accept their decision,” the mayor said.

The mayor said the city will still pursue the project possibly in another province like Pangasinan or will divert to another venture like button mushroom production which he said is a promising industry considering that the whole country only produces 15 percent of the total requirement. 

The mayor said contrary to the notion, the city is bent on helping Tuba town and other municipalities in the BLISTT (Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay) in attracting investments to rev up their economy possibly through the creation of economic zones for which initial negotiations were made with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and information technology companies.

The adjustments involving PUJ terminals including the Tuba and Taloy Sur trunklines are part of the ongoing revisions and experimentations being adopted by the Land Traffic and Transportation Management Committee through the Baguio Traffic and Transportation Technical Working Group to untangle traffic bottlenecks around the city.

In fact on recommendation of the committee the mayor issued on Feb. 13 Executive Order No. 39-2020 enjoining all operators of the PUJ trunklines to and from La Trinidad town and Benguet municipalities using the La Trinidad terminal at the Rabbit Sinkhole area along Magsaysay Avenue and Dangwa Center Mall to comply with the Dept. of Interior and Local Government-Dept. of Transportation and Communication Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 series of 2008 which provides guidelines in the establishment and operation of public transport terminal and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board locational guidelines and standards for terminals and garages.

                The orders provide that PUJ terminals may be located within commercial zones but should not be near a major intersection; must be accessible to commuters but access to major thoroughfares should be discouraged; and should be more than 100 meters away from institutional establishments like schools and hospitals.

Pending compliance with the said guidelines, the operators were ordered to limit units for each route to a maximum of two units at a time.

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The regular inspections being conducted by the city’s team led by Mayor Magalong and City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña resulted to marked improvements on how contractors implement projects in the city.

In the Feb. 28 meeting with close to 200 contractors undertaking projects in the city, Magalong and Dela Peña thanked them for cooperating and for being open to the city’s thrust to foster integrity in project implementation to achieve quality and beneficial outputs.  

The mayor acknowledged that these improvements are good signs that contractors are beginning to have a “change in mindset” in that they are now conscious of following project specifications and of producing quality infrastructures. 

He expressed hope that this will further develop into genuine concern for the end users of the project more than the monetary benefits they will gain.

The weekly round of inspections which the two officials hold with the City Building and Architecture Office and City Engineering Office was initiated in October last year after observing that substandard projects abound in the city including school buildings and flood and erosion control works.

Since then, the team had checked 65 projects and those that failed were refused payment and given punch lists for corrective measures and most of the offending contractors had complied.

                The two officials also directed City Engineer Edgar Victorio Olpindo and City Buildings and Architecture Officer-in-Charge Johnny Degay to ensure that projects programmed even if done in phases will be usable by the intended beneficiaries.

According to Olpindo, they target to finish plans and cost estimates of all projects programmed under the Annual Investment Plan (AIP) by the end of this month for bidding in April and May.

              The mayor also updated the contractors on the “big ticket” projects lined up for implementation in the city beginning this year: Burnham Park upgrading, city market redevelopment, youth convergence building, City Hall Annex building, sewerage system expansion, sidewalk rehabilitation, arboretum , Mines View Park rehabilitation, Baguio Athletic Bowl bleacher expansion, modular parking buildings, modern barangay halls and the Smart City project components.

He assured that no graft practices will be tolerated under his administration so that contractors will earn their keep and have no reason to shortchange the government.

“Kung walang kalokohan, kikita na kayo at masaya pa kayo sa resulta ng trabaho nyo so what we are just asking in return is please give us quality projects.” the mayor said.