LTFRB on Poe saying Uber suspension is cruel: We respect her opinion

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Tuesday said that it respects Senator Grace Poe's opinion of their one-month suspension order against the Transport Network Company (TNC) Uber Systems, Inc.

"We appreciate and respect the opinion of Senator Poe on this matter and that is precisely what we're doing," LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra III said in a press conference.

"In fact, kung hindi lang ginawa ng Uber yung pag-aaccept ng additional applications as what is plainly stated in the July 26, 2017 [order], hindi rin mangyari na magpapalabas kami ng order kahapon," Delgra added.

Poe earlier said that the decision of the LTFRB to suspend for one month the operations of Uber is both "cruel and absurd."

"I am aghast that this agency that committed before the Senate to resolve the issues has just imposed a cure that will only make a disease much worse," Poe said in a statement.

"It does not solve the problem of having an utter lack of safe, reliable, and convenient transportation options for our people," she added.

Poe, who is the chair of Senate Committee on Public Services, said that she will call LTFRB officials to an urgent meeting at the Senate on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, Delgra assured that despite the one month suspension order, the technical working group will continue their work until they resolve issues hounding TNCs.

"At nagpapatuloy din yung preparations namin for the technical working group. In fact nagtatanong sila kailan magmimeet, likely this week, if not - kung maipit tayo dahil may budget deliberations - probably next week," he said.

"Ang ibig kong sabihin itutuloy ito, hindi namin sinara yung pintuan kesyo sinuspend na hindi na namin kakausapin, kakausapin pa rin. Hindi lang sila pati yung dalawa pang TNCs. That's the direction that we're taking," he added.

"All of us in Congress, I'm referring to the House as well as the Senate, as well as the TNCs we have all agreed that we have to submit into some level of regulation," Delgra continued.

The LTFRB on Monday suspended Uber's accreditation for a month, ordering it to "cease and desist its operation on online booking application during the period of suspension."

The board said that Uber continued to accept and activate Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) units even after it was ordered to suspend processing new applications.

Uber filed a motion for reconsideration contesting the order. — BM/KVD, GMA News