MANILA – Bus companies are no longer required to use integrated terminal exchanges in areas under COVID-19 Alert Level 1, a group of provincial bus operators said Monday.

“Naglabas ng order ang Branch 223 ng Regional Trial Court ng Quezon City na pinapatupad ang injunction order… Kinatigan... ng Regional Trial Court yung order ng IATF na Resolution 164 na nagbabalewala nung order ng dating Order na 101 na kailangan gamitin yung mga integrated terminal exchanges doon sa mga lugar na under Alert Level 1,” said Alex Yague of the Nagkakaisang Samahan ng Nangangasiwa ng Panlalawigang Bus sa Pilipinas.

(Regional Trial Court Branch 223 in Quezon City has released an injunction order, siding with IATF Resolution 164 invalidating the earlier Order 101 mandating the use of integrated terminal exchanges in areas under Alert Level 1.)

“So pwede nang bumiyahe ang mga provincial buses kahit na anong oras,” he noted.

(Provincial buses can now travel anytime.)

Thousands of passengers in April were stranded after government imposed a “window hours scheme” for provincial buses in Metro Manila, terminating their trips at designated integrated exchanges during specified hours.

Several provincial lines chose to limit their operations to the window hours of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., stranding passengers who needed to travel to Metro Manila during the day.

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Yague said the Quezon City court’s decision came out on April 27.

He said he hopes lawyers of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) have received copies of the decision by now so they can prepare for its implementation.

Albay Representative Joey Salceda said he hopes to probe the implementation of the window hours scheme.

“Kailangan pa rin mapag-usapan natin bilang isang bansa kung ano dapat talaga ang patakaran kasi wala naman--ang patakaran niyan, walang pinaghuhugutan.”

“Hinanap ko sa buong ano, wala silang, wala namang pinalabas. Eh ang sabi lang ng LTFRB, nag-usap sila ng provincial bus operators. Eh kahit isang provincial bus operators, pinaisa-isa ko, wala naman ho nagsasabi na merong ganoon.”

(We still need to discuss this since this policy seems to have no basis. I asked for the basis, LTFRB said they discussed this with provincial bus operators. But I spoke with the operators and they said no such discussion ever happened.)

The lawmaker said that provincial buses account for only 8,000 of the 40,000 vehicles that ply Edsa every day, which means they are not the biggest contributors to traffic in the metro.

--TeleRadyo, 2 May 2022