What’s the Love Express Transport?

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

The other day I took another glance at the Ceres Liner north terminal close to the fly-over in Barangay Bata in the Bacolod-Talisay highway. It was once a bustling place with buses arriving and leaving daily almost every fifteen minutes and even less. It carried thousands of passengers with hundreds more waiting at the terminal.

Now it is like a slugged out town, few glaring lights when I passed there early Monday night. It was bleak compared to its small competitor, the Bacolod North Terminal across the VTI where jeeps and mini-buses ply the route from Bacolod to the northern towns. It was aglow, as busy as it was in the height of the Ceres Liner dominance.

We traveled a few times out of Bacolod. We went to the south and from Murcia to La Castellana we did not encounter a single Ceres bus but there was one waiting for passengers in La Castellana. We went to Masulog and I learned the Ceres bus hardly passed there for Canlaon City.

What happened to the domineering and oftentimes haughty bus line, seemingly invulnerable lord of the highways? We need not go far for the reason for this pitiful state of affairs. The pandemic that closed most of the businesses in this province stands out clearly as the immediate cause of its sorry state of affairs.

Perhaps the feud in the Yanson family that controlled this bus company has something to do with its inability to respond forcefully to the challenges created by the pandemic. But that is less of a reason than the virus although a creative and dynamic management could have reduced the negative impact of the crisis. Some big businesses had shown resiliency. The Ceres buses are also limping along. Other companies have shut down completely, even passenger jeeps.

The transport business is really in dire straits these days as people try to stay home, and go out only when necessary. Even the streets of Bacolod have light traffic. For the first time, private vehicles dominate the streets and not the jeeps, the Kings of the Road. Passengers are also few, even the pesky trisikads are scarce.

The situation and prospects of the transport sector are dim that as long as the pandemic remains and the government is intent in restricting the movement of people, so long will the public transport system remains sluggish and for businessmen, an investment risk, except for a transcendental purpose that the return to investment is of no import.

Thus, I was intrigued by a social media report that a new transport company is seeking endorsement from the Municipality of Barotac Nuevo. I was furnished a letter of July 8, 2020 signed by Rodney E. Santarin.

Santarin wrote Mayor Niel C. Tupas asking the mayor “for a letter of support certifying that you have provided a space for loading and unloading of buses” in the town. This certification is necessary, he said for the issuance of a certificate of public convenience for the route from Iloilo to Barotac Nuevo by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Santarin mentioned that his company has fifteen buses, I presume ready to roll out despite the insufficiency of passengers. In a crisis, the bold can take the risk with hopes to survive even if this transport company is new in the market. That is a presumption since it is still applying for a franchise.

While the letter said it will serve the Iloilo – Barotac Nuevo route, it mentioned that it will be bringing passengers all over the island of Panay. Clearly, it is not one-route (Iloilo-Barotac Nuevo and vice versa) as first indicated in the letter but it will be plying the entire island and its several provinces.

There is no information that letters with similar requests were sent to other towns and cities of the island so that the company will be able to service the entire Panay. Is one town’s certification enough for LTFRB to issue a franchise for the whole island? That does not seem right but LTFRB has its rules.

Santarin signed as the branch manager of LOVE TRANSPORT EXPRESS, INC. with office address at C.L. Montelibano Drive, Capitolville Subdivision, Villamonte, Bacolod City. This adds a bit more to the mystery; indeed there’s more to this than meets the eye.

Let us continue tomorrow.