7 dispatchers charged in court

Seven more dispatchers have been charged before the court last Thursday for violating the city’s anti-dispatching ordinance that prohibits dispatching of passengers for public utility vehicles.

Named respondents in the case for violation of City Ordinance 2108 are Alexis Ejara, Juvie Mangubat, Joseph Edgar Ajer, Loren Belarmino, Felipe Gallarde, Noe Alvia and Arnold Zapanta, all residents of different barangays in Cebu City.

They are now facing the criminal case before the Municipal Trial Court in Cities and may face a fine up to P5,000 and imprisonment of one year if convicted.

Only last week, four other illegal dispatchers operating at the Cebu City South Bus Terminal were also arrested and charged for violating Cebu City Ordinance 2108.

The dispatching of passengers is not just prohibited at the South Bus Terminal but also in the city streets.

Although most of the passenger jeepney drivers give P5 to dispatchers whenever they pass by in their respective areas, some drivers admit they just give money to these persons for fear that something will happen to them if they will refuse.

Dispatching is defined as an act of procuring, soliciting, or escorting passengers or would-be passengers to any passenger vehicles whether such act is done under direction of the driver or operators and done with or without collecting or demanding fees.

Councilor Roberto Alcoseba, chairman of the committee on traffic management of the City Council, proposed for the amendment of the anti-dispatching ordinance increasing the fine from P3,000 to P5,000 aside from the six months imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

But if the violator would opt not to be prosecuted in court, he will be required to pay P2,000 fine directly to the city treasurer. – Rene U. Borromeo/BRP