Mandaue jeepney drivers may resume operations in December yet

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines- The Mandaue City government has scheduled the resumption of operations of traditional jeepneys to December 2020.

This is because the one-stop-shop for the issuance of a special permit to operate that was originally scheduled last November 18 and 19, 2020, was moved to December 1 to 4, 2020, at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex.

Before the one-stop-shop, the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM) will contact the jeepney operators and drivers who are residents of the city. Those without pending violations and penalties will be cleared while those with pending penalties will be advised to settle at the TEAM office. The list of cleared drivers will then be endorsed to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Task Force to undergo free swab testing from November 1-4.

A probational team clearance will be granted for those with accumulated penalties of P10, 000 and above. Drivers can pay in installment for up to six months while those with below P10,000 pending penalties must pay in full.

Ronilo Gahator, PISTON-Cebu vice-chairman, expressed elation that the TPUJ drivers can resume operation but hoped the city will allow drivers to pay their penalties in installments even those with below P10,000 liabilities.

“Unta masugod lang mi og biyahe bisan naay penalty bisan ubos sa P10,000 kay amo manggyud nang baryan kay penalty man na kay pila na ka buwan nga walay pangita (drivers),” Gahator said.

Lawyer John Eddu Ibañez, executive secretary of Mayor Jonas Cortes said that they will allow drivers to pay in installments no matter how much their pending penalties are as long as they will ask permission from the TEAM office.

“Bisan og P3,000 ato sila i-agi ana (installment) kay kaysa dili sila ka biyahe unsa may ila’ng ibayad. Ang Probational nga TEAM clearance dili sad pwede nila balewalaon after six months (kung dili mabaryan) wala na tay rason nga dili nato mabaryan, at least show of effort ba nga naa tay ipakita nga willing ta mubayad sa penalty, once ma finalize mo isyu si Mayor (Cortes) og EO,” Ibañez said.

The drivers and operators who tested negative for the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will be endorsed to the TEAM which will provide the schedule of when drivers can proceed to the one-stop-shop.

Once a jeepney driver gets his quick response (QR) code, he can immediately start plying the streets. /rcg

Traditional jeepneys in Mandaue City may start plying the streets again next month. CDN Digital photo/Mary Rose Sagarino