LA TRINIDAD, Benguet– The municipal government recently interposed no objection to the proposal of a transport cooperative for the operation of fifty additional taxi units in the municipality to boost the presence of taxi services that will provide an added choice on the mode of transportation for residents and tourists alike.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda stated that the endorsement from the local government is just part of the requirements that should be complied by the transport cooperative for its application for the issuance of certificate of public convenience (CPC) to be processed and approved by the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
He claimed that under the application of the aforesaid transport cooperative, the proposed route of the taxis that will be operating in the municipality will be from La Trinidad to any point of the Cordillera, except Baguio City to address the possible complaints from taxi operators operating in Baguio city on the potential overlapping of their operations.
The local chief executive admitted that based on records, there are only 7 taxi units that are officially registered to be operating in the municipality while the rest of the taxi units operating are mostly registered in Baguio city.
Earlier, the municipal council also endorsed the request of the transport cooperative for the issuance by the LTFRB of the required CPC that will allow the smooth operation of the taxi units that had been pooled to ensure the availability of sufficient number of taxi units that will be operating in the locality so that commuters will not solely rely on taxi units from Baguio City to service their transport requirements.
The LTFRB-CAR will be initially processing the application of the transport cooperative for the issuance of the CPOC where the said application will be transmitted to the central office for the approval of the same and the subsequent release of the aforesaid CPC that will be beneficial in improving taxi services in the province’s capital town.
Mayor Salda expressed his gratitude to the transport cooperative for signifying its interest in the operation of taxi services in the municipality so that the capital town will also have available taxi units for commuters, especially during peak tourism months, to address the inadequate units that are exclusively operating in the locality.
According to him, the transport cooperative could have conducted the appropriate feasibility study to ascertain the viability of the operation of the additional taxi units that is why it was convinced to file its application for the operation of taxi units in the municipality that will provide the residents and tourists will alternative modes of transportation in the future.
He stipulated that with the upcoming operation of additional taxi units in the municipality after the same shall have been approved by the LTFRB, there will already be increased presence of taxi units in the municipality that will cater to the increasing demand for taxi services by not only the residents but also the tourists once the inter-agency task force will decide to open tourism-related activities to help in reviving the local economy that had been heavily impacted by the prevailing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. By HENT
