Montealto reminds bus operators to secure LTFRB-7 permits for special trips

Travellers are expected to crowd the Cebu South Bus Terminal located along Natalio Bacalso Avenue in Cebu City in the coming days to go home to their province during the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day celebrations. | CDND File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) is again reminding bus operators to secure a special permit from their office if they intend to serve passengers who are outside their designated routes on November 1 and 2.

As of Monday, October 28, 2019, LTFRB-7 Director Eduardo Montealto Jr. said that only Vallacar Transit that operates Ceres Liner has applied for the issuance of a special permit for buses plying routes in southern and northern Cebu.

Montealto is asking other bus companies to already visit their office and file their request for a special permit and not wait for Thursday which is the last working day of the week for government office before the kalag-kalag break.

He said that applicants will be asked to pay a fee of P170 for a permit that will be valid for a period of three days.

Permits, Montealto said, are issued to allow bus operators to deploy their units in areas that experience shortage of buses that may result from the influx of passengers who wanted to go home to the countryside for the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day celebrations.

Since their office located at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City was damaged by a recent fire, Montealto is asking Cebuanos who needed to transact business with them to visit their temporary office located at the fourth floor of the Robinson’s Galleria Mall.

As this developed, Montealto said that they started to deploy LTFRB-7 personnel to the North Bus Terminal in Barangay Subangdaku in Mandaue City and the Cebu South Bus Terminal located along Natalio Bacalso Avenue in Cebu City on Thursday, October 24, to inspect buses leaving the terminal to make sure that these are not overloaded.

“We will check if they are not overloading, if the bolts and nuts of their tires are complete, as well as if they have installed dash cams and GPS in their units,” Montealto said.

He said that nurses were also stationed at the Malasakit Desks of the two bus terminals to especially check the blood pressure of passengers, drivers and bus conductors. / dcb