There is really nothing we can do – DOTC regional director

By Estanislao Albano Jr.

Tabuk City, Kalinga – There is really nothing his office can do with the proliferation of colorum public utility vehicles (PUVs) in Tabuk which have been the subject of numerous complaints, according to Transportation and Communication Regional Director Federico Mandapat.

In a letter to Mayor Camilo Lammawin, Jr., Mandapat said that they want very much to conduct law enforcement operations in the city, they are prevented by lack of manpower at the Land Transportation Office in Tabuk City and likewise in the regional office.

He said that the situation would be different had not former LTO Assistant Secretary Reynaldo Berroya not revoked on August 13, 2007 the deputizing of policemen in the city to do the job.

Saying that this deputized policemen were a great help in the maintenance of order on the road, Mandapat had reiterated an earlier suggestion made by LTO regional operations chief Robert Pocais to the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Tabuk City for that body to pass a resolution requesting Department of Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza to issue anew deputation orders to local policemen.

Berroya had revoked the deputation orders because of reports that such were being used for mulcting activities.

Two PUV groups here have earlier petitioned the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to transfer the processing of papers of PUVs in the province from the Cordillera Administrative Region in Baguio City to the LTFRB-Cagayan in Tuguegarao City.

One of the reasons they cited is the little attention the province is receiving when it comes to the enforcement of traffic laws “contributing to the proliferation of colorum vehicles in the area.”

Kalinga Federation of Jeepney Operators (KFJO) and the Kalinga Transportation and Development Cooperative (KASTRANSDESCO) said that with the nearness of Tuguegarao City to Tabuk City, traffic enforcement would improve.

Cecilio Mangadap, board chairman of the KALTRANSDESCO, had accused the DOTC-CAR of not acting on the June 3, 2008 order of Secretary Mendoza to apprehend colurom PUVs in Kalinga.