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Bicol IATF suspends Albay truck ban ordinance

By Mar Serrano

September 11, 2020, 9:29 pm

<p>Google map of parts of Bicol region</p>

Google map of parts of Bicol region

LEGAZPI CITY – The Bicol Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has issued a directive suspending the implementation of the truck ban ordinance passed by the Albay provincial government in February.

Lawyer Anthony Nuyda, regional director of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and concurrent Bicol IATF chairperson, issued BIATF Resolution No. 2020-19, saying it runs counter to the IATF Omnibus Guidelines on Community Quarantine.

Nuyda said the BIATF assessment concluded that the truck ban would affect the transport of all types of cargoes supporting the local economy of the province and other Bicol provinces as well as some areas of the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

According to the resolution dated Sept. 3, of which a copy was released to the media on Friday (Sept. 11), “the unnecessary delay would be more devastating to other local economies which cargoes are transported through Albay province”.

The BATF cited Section 7 of the Omnibus Procedures on Community Quarantine providing procedures for inter-zonal and intra-zonal movement requiring unhampered movement of all types of cargoes by land, air, or sea within areas placed under any form of community quarantine.

The task force unanimously resolved upon the motion of the Philippine National Police and seconded by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to order the suspension of the truck ban under provincial ordinance (No. 0011-2020) signed by Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara last February.

Earlier, hundreds of traders in Bicol slammed the Albay truck ban ordinance, calling it adversarial to economic growth as the business sector is still recovering from the negative impact of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

The Albay Chamber of Commerce Industry (ACCI), in a letter signed by 261 members, strongly rejected the ordinance and urged Bichara to cancel the truck ban regulation.

Rosemarie Quinto Rey, ACCI president, said the local chapter of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), together with other non-ACCI members, in their petition said “we would like to request redress from your good office to please relieve us from the possible adverse effect of said ordinance”.

The ACCI statement lamented that the chamber, during the crafting and the public hearing of the ordinance, was not afforded the opportunity to speak or be heard, giving the impression that the ordinance was already final.

Bichara signed Provincial Ordinance No. 011-2020 which prohibits trucks from traversing the national road (Maharlika Highway) within the province of Albay from 6 to 8 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. and provides penalty for violation.

The ordinance was passed to prevent traffic congestion during peak or rush hours resulting in delays in travel hours, to the detriment of the riding public.

Exempted from the ban are government trucks and those delivering goods. Violators face penalties of PHP3,000 for the first offense, PHP4,000 for 2nd offense and PHP5,000 for 3rd offense.

The passage of the truck ban was approved by the majority of the provincial board members except for Raul Rosal and Howard Sim Imperial, who said “the ordinance was baseless, anti-poor, detrimental to the economy, the root of corruption, and an abuse of power”.

The ACCI questioned the ban's schedule, saying that it coincides with the arrival of trucks carrying cargoes from Northern Luzon to their respective points of destination here. “The trucking ban manifests loss of time delays and would incur additional operational costs to the prejudice of businesses and consumers,” the group said.

Earlier, the Camarines Sur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CSCCI) filed in court a request for certiorari prohibition and an injunction for the application for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and writ of preliminary injunction against the truck ban ordinance.

Judge Maria Theresa San Juan-Loquillano of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), responding to the CSCCI petition, issued an order for the Albay local government unit (LGU) and the chamber to file their respective position papers.

Likewise, a group of Albay contractors with 24 signatories asked Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año through Nuyda for a legal opinion on whether the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) has the power to enact an ordinance regulating roads and traffic.

The Local Government Code of 1991 vests upon the Sangguniang Bayan and Lungsod the power to pass an ordinance regulating the use of roads and traffic, not on the SP.

Daniel Garcia, Bichara's spokesperson, in a phone interview on Friday said the governor has acknowledged the Bicol IATF resolution on the temporary suspension of the truck ban ordinance.

He said Bichara has asked members of the SP to give him the authority to lift the ban, taking in consideration the current Covid-19 pandemic situation in the region. (PNA)

 

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