Chan: No cancellation of PUV special permits

LAPU-LAPU City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan has clarified that there is no such thing as a cancellation of special permits of public utility vehicles (PUVs) plying routes in the city.

Chan was reacting to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Central Visayas’ (LTFRB 7) announcement that all special permits of PUVs “touching Lapu-Lapu City are not extended and deemed cancelled” effective Sept. 1, 2022.

The LTFRB said the cancellation was in adherence to a letter from Chan.

“Only special permit grantees on the aforesaid city are affected,” it said, adding that “the observations of the city mayor are valid that congestion in the area is heavy.”

But Chan told SunStar Cebu Friday, Sept. 2, that what the City did not allow so far was the application of operators for additional PUVs to ply routes within the city, stressing that they already renewed the clearance of existing PUVs.

He said they could not yet allow additional PUVs to ply the city since they are still looking for ways to solve the traffic problem.

“There is no cancellation. What we meant was that every time someone asks for a franchise for that route, they must pass the City so that we will know, just to inform us because our concern now is on how to solve the traffic problem,” Chan said in a mix of Cebuano and English.

Chan said the City plans to open up new roads and see if they can allow more PUVs to ply.

As of Aug. 20, only around 850 traditional public utility jeepneys (TPUJs) remained operational in Cebu City, while 650 units were operating in the two other highly urbanized cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu and the cities of Danao and Talisay.

There are also around 1,120 modernized jeepneys (MPUJs) plying Metro Cebu, said Eduardo Montealto Jr., director of the LTFRB 7.

Full seating capacity in public transportation is now allowed in Central Visayas, but Montealto said commuters are still not allowed to stand inside PUVs.

“For me, if we really look at the situation, maybe we are not yet ready to have additional jeeps because our roads are still very small that they can’t accommodate,” said Chan.