MANILA, Philippines – Bus operator and singer Claire de la Fuente asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday to recall the cancellation of her firm’s franchises.
She said the cancellation of the franchises of 107 bus units of the Philippine Corinthian Liner Corp. was “arbitrary and baseless” and was meant to send a “chilling effect” on all bus operators who opposed the implementation of a bus number coding scheme.
The LTFRB’s decision on De la Fuente’s firm is among the first batch of resolutions the board issued in relation to a bus strike that paralyzed thousands of passengers in Metro Manila on Nov. 15, 2010.
De la Fuente, president of the Integrated Metro Bus Operators’ Association, said they did not push through with the strike they threatened to stage. Her lawyers – Harry Roque, Romel Bagares and Toni Coo – said any alleged lack of public utility buses should not be attributed to her bus firm because 21 of her buses were “legally prohibited” from plying the route by the number coding scheme.
Roque, however, said the LTFRB cannot prohibit bus operators from staging a strike because it would violate their right to free speech.
De la Fuente’s lawyers also provided certificates from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority showing that Philippine Corinthian was able to field 57 buses on that day.
Roque said the wholesale cancellation of his client’s franchises “is so gross that it constitutes confiscation of private property without the constitutional right to due process.”