‘BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD’: LPTRP suspension period dedicated to consultation, communication

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Monday assured the public that the 45-day suspension of implementing the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) will be dedicated to consultation with various sectors, especially commuters, and drafting a plan to properly communicate route changes.

In his regular press conference Monday, Treñas admitted that “some refining” must be done on the city’s LPTRP, which has been the subject of public ire for weeks.

He issued Executive Order No. 1 last Friday, July 1, suspending the implementation of the LPTRP, citing public clamor, inflation, and in anticipation of face-to-face classes in schools.

Treñas said public consultations will be conducted in barangays and terminals to ensure maximized public participation in ironing out issues on current transportation routes.

“The [meeting last time with commuters] was done in my office because I just wanted to get a feel, but once we start with the consultations, we will schedule that in barangays and in terminals so that it would be easier [for the riding public],” Treñas said.

He said that the Public Information Office, with support and assistance of the media, would craft a communication plan to ensure that outcomes from the 45-day suspension, including new route plans, would be properly communicated to the people.

Treñas said that he would meet with provincial government and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-Region 6 (LTFRB-6) officials to fix the kinks on inter-zonal travel.

The LTFRB-6 last Friday told the city government that it cannot do anything on its request to allow province-based jeepneys unless the provincial government makes a similar request.

“We will not make any objections because that is one of the areas that made it more difficult for us to [plan our] routes. We will coordinate with the province and the [LTFRB-6] to fix this because we also want to help them,” Treñas said.

The mayor also mentioned that he will meet with his newly formed business council on the LPTRP routes as well as decommissioned routes which may be possibly revived.

These include the People’s Homesite and Housing Corporation (PHHC) barangays in Mandurriao district and Brgy. Buntatala in Jaro district, which previously served routes prior to the LPTRP implementation.