TAGBILARAN CITY ,Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board-7 would not issue franchises to tourist buses and vans-for-hire in Bohol until the Department of Tourism gives its go signal, according to LTFRB-7 director Ahmed Cuizon.
Cuizon told The FREEMAN that LTFRB-7, which has been visiting the city and province every first Friday of the month, has not opened yet for issuance of franchises to these kinds of vehicles.
Organized transport groups have been asking the LTFRB-7 for franchises to be issued for their vehicles to make their operations legitimate and not deemed "colorum."
City airport-based Bohol Island Operators and Drivers Multi-purpose Cooperative (BIODMPC) made this call, together with city tourist port-based Association of Bohol United Transport Services, Inc., Bohol Tours Services Multi-purpose Cooperative and Dao terminal-based Jagna Van Operators and Drivers Association.
They asked: "When will it end?" referring to the "moratorium" on the franchise issuance imposed by LTFRB-7.
The BIODMPC said that among its members of more than 100 units, only less than 10 percent has franchises issued for them to operate legally.
The transport groups called on the DOT to "ease" the standard policies on transport services, saying they were willing to comply with the standards in consonance with "road-worthiness" of their units in ferrying visitors and tourists to various destinations in the province.
Some of them lamented that even if the "moratorium" remains enforced, some authorities have been apprehending vehicles causing undue inconvenience to their passengers and losses in their daily incomes.
The Bohol Tourism Office, through its officer-in-charge Jo Cabarrus, expressed support to the call of the transport groups for early resolution of the non-issuance of franchises.
Cuizon said he heard of this clamor from tourist transport operators but then he could not do anything unless the DOT acts on this.
His office has yet to receive information from DOT regarding the set of policies and standards for tourist buses and vans-for-hire to comply, he said.
Meanwhile, the issuance of franchises for other ordinary transport services is still going on, said LTFRB-7 about the presence of its personnel every month.