Poe asks Tugade to explain issues surrounding PITX

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on Public Services, has asked the Department of Transportation to explain why certain bus operators are exempted from ending their trips at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.

"I write to your office with regard to the issues involving the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange, in particular the unfair exemption of selected provincial bus operators from the PITX and the difficulties suffered by commuters and end-users," Poe wrote Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade in a letter released to media on Thursday afternoon.

Poe said 195 buses were exempted from ending their trips at the PITX through Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Memorandum Circular 22. Low usage of the terminal has been blamed on the LTFRB circular.

READ: LTFRB exempts buses from ending routes at PITx

The PITX was inaugurated by President Rodrigo Duterte on November 5, and was built with the intention of easing traffic within Metro Manila, and improve the commute from Cavite and Batangas and the capital. The PITX was estimated to cost P2.6 billion to construct.

During the Senate Public Services Committee hearing on December 4, it was reported that an average of five buses depart from the terminal every hour.

During that committee hearing, former LTFRB Board Member Aileen Lizada, who expressed her dissent to the exemption, claimed under oath that her signature on the circular had been forged.

Lizada, who had butted heads with LTFRB chair Martin Delgra III over the memorandum, was transferred to the Civil Service Commission last month.

RELATED: DOTr to review order allowing some buses to bypass PITX

In the letter, Poe asked for the DOTr's "definitive reply" on several key issues including:

• Why did the DOTr exempt several provincial buses from terminating their routes at the PITX?
• Why the PITX still does not have a terminal schedule and why the DOTr came up with observations on bus supply shortages for certain routes after the PITX's opening.
• Why three of the bus companies exempted (St. Anthony, Erjhon, and South Point) all belong to the same owner and if this is the alleged reason why they were exempted from ending at PITX?
• Was Lizada's signature on MC 22 really forged?

Poe also asked for a dry run where all buses — without exception —  outside Metro Manila make a stop at PITx.

A post by the DOTr claims that ridership has been increasing foot traffic at the terminal since the beginning of December from 6,764 passengers from December 1 to 37,491 passengers as of December 17.

The terminal was built to service an average of 100,000 passengers per day.

But according to a One News report on November 29, hundreds of passengers on buses that ended their trips at PITX had to wait for hours because of the low number of buses and jeepneys servicing the terminal.

Poe said last Friday that the committee may consider filing charges against the DOTr if they would not resolve the problems at the PITX.