LTFRB 7 gets new director; Cuizon off to Region 3

Even before the new regional director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 could assume his post, transport operators already urged him to continue the campaign against colorum vehicles.

Eduardo Montealto Jr., who was regional director of LTFRB 9 or the Zamboanga Peninsula, will replace outgoing LTFRB 7 Director Ahmed Cuizon. The turnover ceremony is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. today.

Cuizon will be the new director of LTFRB 3 regional office in Central Luzon.

In an interview yesterday, Ryan Benjamin Yu, chairman of the Cebu Integrated Transport Services Cooperative (Citrasco), said they hope that Montealto will also run after drivers and operators of colorum vehicles as aggressively as Cuizon did.

He hopes that Montealto, a retired Philippine Air Force official, will listen to the concerns of transport stakeholders in the region.

Montealto, who hails from Davao City, was recently appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to the LTFRB after his retirement from military service last year.

Meanwhile, Yu announced that once the required documents are in order, Citrasco’s 20 new buses will start plying routes in Cebu.

They will be the first transport operator in Cebu to comply with the government’s requirements for the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program, such as giving drivers just compensation, he said.

“We’re just waiting for the go signal. There’s just some documentation that needs to be cleared as regards the DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) and DOTr (Department of Transportation),” he told Sueprbalita Cebu.

Yu said the arrival of the buses has been delayed for nine months already. They planned to operate the buses before December last year yet.