The Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Transportation will hold a hearing today on the complaint of the operators of public utility vehicles plying the Bata and Mandalagan routes on the operation of the North Terminal in Bacolod City, committee chairman Councilor Dindo Ramos said yesterday.

Ramos said they will invite all the stakeholders to a meeting at 2 p,m. today at the government center to find out how legitimate their complaints are against the operation of the terminal, after which the SP will take a stand on the matter.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia asked the jeepney operators to formalize their complaint, as earlier suggested by Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson. The Mayor said that as soon as they have formalized their complaint, the city will act on it.

CrispinChua, who operates the North Terminal under the business name, Friendly Ghost Business Center Inc., said he is just a victim of collateral damage between the two warring transport groups – the Federation of Bacolod Drivers Association, and Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators ng Negros..

Chua said he does not understand why former Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. is after his business. He urged him to first verify his facts and figures before he fires his ire at him.

Chua said he started and sustained the operation of the Northbound terminal on his own and had even used his house as collateral for the loan that he had invested in the terminal.

He also presented proof that the incorporators of his business are his wife and three sons and that he had renewed his business permit and paid his taxes amounting to P59,000.

Chua said there is no truth to claims that there are 7,000 vehicles that come and go in the terminal as alleged by Gamboa, since the average is only 1,000 vehicles.

Last year, he spent P725,000 for his operation expense, and this year, he has projected it to reach about P825,000, he said.

Meanwhile, Chua also said the gasoline station within the terminal premises is operated by Raymund Bermudez and he had leased the area to him for P15,000 a month.

It is not true that the drivers are being forced or compelled to gas up at the station, he said, and added that they could hardly reach 500 liters in sales a day.

Chua also said that it is the Bata-Liberted Jeepney Drivers Association, which exists under FEBACDA, that is earning more than he does through the association fees that they collect from the drivers per trip.

He said the association earns about P503,904 for 15 months of operation at the North terminal for the Bata route alone.

The association is charging a driver P8 per trip with an average of 10, 498 trips per month, he said, adding that the P8 is broken down into P3 for the driver; P2- driver's refund; P0.50 savings and P2.50 operational expense.

Chua said he is charging the Bata drivers P9 per trip while he had spent more than P7 million for the establishment of the North terminal.

His operational expenses amount to P750,000 per month and increasing, while the drivers’ associations just continue to earn, he said.

Meanwhile, Jessie Ortega, who represents SSTONE, said Ramos visited the terminal Saturday and saw that the drivers have no complaint. Only the officials of the jeepney association, whose income has been affected, are the ones complaining, he said.

Ortega said he hopes that they will co-exist at the North terminal because their members have no problem.*CGS

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