5 show-cause orders against bus operators issued by LTFRB-7

FILE PHOTO LTFRB LOGO

CEBU CITY, Philippines— Five show-cause orders against bus operators have already been issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) after they found defects on their bus units during their inspection of terminals starting on Monday, April 7, 2025.

LTFRB-7 Regional Director Eduardo Montealto Jr. said that they observed defects such as the absence of fire extinguishers, defective tires, broken windshields, and defective gears.

Montealto said that the move was in preparation for the upcoming observance of the Holy Week, wherein an influx of passengers is expected, as they will travel to their hometowns and tourist destinations to have their vacation there.

READ: LTFRB-7 issues special permits to buses for Holy Week travel

He said that these operators would have to pay a fine of P5,000, while their bus units would not be allowed to ply on the road until the defects that they observed would be corrected.

“Actually bisan pa og ila nang i-correct ang ilang minor defects nga among nakita, amo gihapon na silang pamultahon og singko mil nga pesos for every defects nga among nakita,” Montealto said.

(Actually, even if they will correct their minor defects that we observed, we will still ask them to pay the fine of P5,000 for every defect that we saw.)

Meanwhile, if they fail to correct these defects and their unit is caught again, they will have to pay another fine of P10,000 for the second offense, and P15,000 for the third offense.

Aside from this, their bus unit’s franchise will also be suspended for 30 days.

On April 4, 2025, Senator Raffy Tulfo inspected the Cebu North Bus Terminal, wherein the senator also observed these defects.

Aside from this, the senator also observed that the terminal’s electric fans were not functioning, and their carts were already broken.

READ: 1,018 passenger buses get Holy Week special permits

Montealto, however, thanked the senator for his actions, for this would help them to improve their services and not just focus on the issuance of franchises for public utility vehicles.

“Pero naghimo lang mi og initiative nga redundant sa uban namong kauban sa road transport. Pero karon, sa pagbisita niya, sa pag-inspection niya, among nasabutan among central office nga siguro somehow, among apilan og board resolution aron makoan kung asa dapit ang among atimanon,” he added.

(We made an initiative that is redundant to other members of the road transport. But now, when he visited, when he inspected, we, our central office, agreed that perhaps, somehow, we will include a board resolution so that we will know what areas that we need to fix.)