Don Mariano drivers urge LTFRB to let their buses run again

They are now drivers without anything to drive.

The cancellation of crash-prone Don Mariano Transit's franchise has left as many as 500 drivers and their conductors without jobs.

Drivers, conductors, and other employees of Don Mariano Transit Corp. appealed to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Wednesday to reconsider its decision to cancel the franchises of their firm's entire fleet.

 

“LTFRB, 500 katao po ang magugutom kung buong fleet po ang mawawala,” said one of many posters  displayed at the  gate of the bus liner’s garage in Novaliches, Quezon City.

 

On Tuesday, the LTFRB canceled Don Mariano’s franchise for failure to comply with the terms and conditions of its Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) granted to it. 

 

The decision came nearly a month after one of the bus firm’s buses fell off the Skyway as a result of overspeeding. 

 

The accident, considered the deadliest bus crash of 2013, killed 21 people and injured 24 others.

 

Bus drivers  admitted it is very difficult for them to find new jobs.

 

“Ang tingin na nila (potential employers) sa iyo, masama. Mababa na ang tingin sa amin. Pero dapat naman hindi ganoon dahil hindi naman namin kagustuhan ang nangyari,” said driver Christopher Labadisos in a report aired on “24 Oras.”

 

Other employees, like Marivic Arnaldo, remain hopeful about Don Mariano’s fate and said they will wait for the LTFRB’s final decision on whether or not the bus firm can continue its operations.

 

“Dito kasi may benefits ang empleyado [tulad ng] SSS, Pag-ibig, Philhealth. Sa ibang kumpanya wala ‘yun,” Arnaldo said.

 

The Don Mariano Transit deploys 78 buses. But the owner, a family headed by Dr. Melissa Lim, owns six other bus firms, none of which were affected by the LTFRB decision.

 

LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez maintained that they merely enforced the law when it decided to cancel Don Mariano’s franchise.

 

Aside from the Skyway crash, the LTFRB also considered other violations of the franchise, including the unauthorized transfer of the chassis of buses to other vehicles without the permission of the LFTRB or the Land Transportation Office, according to an earlier report.

 

“Nagsisilbing babala ang aming desisyon regarding Don Mariano sa ibang bus companies na we mean business kapag nag-apprehend kami ng bus companies na may violation,” Ginez said.  — XA/ELR, GMA News