By Clarence Jude Tabinas || Photo by Poimen Deb Agnila

“I will suspend first the ordinance and coordinate closely with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and other agencies.”

This was said by Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez on September 6 in an interview with K5 News FM Tacloban Digital where he verbally suspended City Ordinance No. 2024-15-19 or the “Ordinance Adopting the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP)” temporarily.

According to him, the ordinance was suspended to help commuters, especially students, who are having a hard time commuting.

“At the moment now, I’m suspending first the not allowing them until we straighten out with LTFRB para naman ‘di mahirapan ang mga students, para di mahirapan ang mga bumibiyahe,” he said. 

In the interview, he also explained that the Tacloban-Campetic route was removed from the city’s new route plan to maintain fairness among transport cooperatives from other municipalities. 

“Kung papayagan kasi natin lahat ng sasakyan na pumunta sa downtown, kailangan payagan din natin ‘yong mga taga Alangalang, taga Tolosa, taga iba’t ibang munisipyo na pumunta rin ng downtown. We can’t just exclusively say na isa [Palo] lang ang puwede. Kaya ang ginawa ng LTFRB, ang recommendation nila, eh, sa terminal na lahat ng taga labas ng Tacloban,” he said.

Students’ struggles

Prior to the suspension, commuters in Tacloban City and Palo experienced more difficulty in commuting on Thursday, September 5, as multicabs from Palo were no longer allowed to enter downtown.

According to Gabrielle Cordeta of Grade 12-A who lives in Brgy. 74 Nula-Tula, Tacloban City, he was surprised when the multicab he usually rides made the passengers get off at a different location far from the original one.

“Last night, I rode the multicab thinking na it would just be a normal day going home riding from Pisay to downtown, but when we reached GSIS, the driver told us to get off because apparently, they’re only allowed up to that point,” he said.

He also said that the commute was more hassle and expensive as he had to ride two multicabs instead of just one.

Meanwhile, Alyzzandra Mendoza of Grade 12-A and Joshua Sudario of Grade 12-B also expressed the same concerns, saying that the sudden removal of the Tacloban-Campetic route shocked them and cost them more than usual.

“I was shocked about the sudden change of their [Tacloban-Campetic multicabs] route because for me, I have a budget of 20 pesos per day for transportation, but on Thursday, I had to ride two multicabs home, which cost me 26 pesos,” Sudario said.

Driver’s opinions

In an interview with the Science Net, drivers from Campetic and Tacloban Drivers and Operators Transport Cooperative (CATADOTCO) expressed their thoughts on the new city ordinance.

One driver said that they knew about the removal of their route but didn’t know exactly when it would be implemented.

“We actually already knew about it but we didn’t know when it would be implemented because they [Tacloban City LGU] didn’t give us any document stating when they’ll actually stop us from entering downtown,” he said.

“The problem with the implementation is that they didn’t give the public enough information so people, especially students, could prepare,” he added.

On the other hand, another driver said how the LPTRP could severely affect their livelihood, causing them to lose almost half of their daily income.

“We usually earn P1,000 a day but with this new ordinance, we might not even be able to pay for our boundary which is P700,” he said. 

Meanwhile, both drivers expressed their gratitude towards Romualdez for temporarily suspending the city ordinance and allowing them to go to downtown again but also hoped for the mayor to reconsider and not remove their route permanently.

City Ordinance No. 2024-15-19 or “Ordinance Adopting the LPTRP” of Tacloban City is an ordinance approved on August 6 which aims to improve road safety and public transport travel time and quality, but left commuters and multicab drivers confused due to the absence of the Tacloban-Campetic route.