The tricycle fare increase in Tagum City

sept 19

The City Legal Officer Roland Tumanda made the inevitable reason loud and clear to quell murmurs around on the possibillity of holding in abeyance the present P7 motorcycle fare since prices of oil products have been already decreasing over the last two weeks. The increased P10 fare will continue for Tagum City despite the price rollbacks.

Since it’s the Tagum City Federation of Tricycle Transport and Services Cooperative (Tafettrasco) that would be benefited, its act of volunteering to distribute the taripas is a just a natural reaction knowing that tricycle drivers and operators have then been losing when gasoline prices were still about a double of the January price level, as well as due to the unfair competition posed by the colorum habal-habals which have been snatching their passengers in the city’s streets during sunny days.

“Unless the ordinance is amended,” Atty. Tumanda said to belabor a point that the fare could still be decreased to attune with current oil prices.

It’s good that there seems to be a quick price reflex now in the country’s deregulation regime in the oil industry but this positive news about price rollback is so scarce vis-avis the many instances of price increase.

We hope there will also be quick reflex mechanism in our local legislation. It seems to us that on the average it would take us one month and a half to two months before legislation is finally implemented after passing through the local and provincial legislative processes. But we start to count on the date of approval of the ordinance. In particular, the city ordinance on fare increase was unanimously enacted last July 28 and if taripas would be issued today, it takes us a total of one month and 21 days to have it implemented.

However, the delay on this fare increase ordinance seems to occur at the provincial level.

Nevertheless, despite what appear as discreet dilatory processes occurring at the provincial level for this piece of legislation, the city councilors who all voted yes to the ordinance should still be congratulated- for increasing fare at a time of decreasing oil prices. Thanks for the delay.  (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

Filed under: tagum city, tagum city hall, tagum city councilors, tagum councilors, tagum, atty. tumanda, councilor joey millan, councilor francisco remitar, mylene baura, councilor alfredo pagmilao, councilor suaybaguio, councilor allan zulueta, mayor rey uy, tagum tricycle fare increase, atty. tumanda tagum

NEWS: NTC asks formal complaint vs Tagum City FM radios

The National Telecommunications Commission is asking formal complaints from any aggrieved party against some radio stations, particularly FM radios operating in Tagum City and the neighboring areas.

NTC-X1 regional director Josue de Villa Go, who faced Tagum City councilors during the SP session on Monday clarified the formal complaints to NTC would be used as basis for possible issuance of a cease and desist order to any violator.

During Monday’s session of Tagum City Council, the status of the X88.7 FM radio station was tackled following last week’s privilege speech of Councilor Raymond Joey Millan who complained of the audio interruption entering the channel allocated for GMA-TV over Skycable in the city.

NTC-XI Regional director Josue de Villa Go, who was invited as resource speaker along with GMA and Skycable representatives said that “X88.7 FM station is affiliating with Kalayaan Broadcasting Corp owned by the Floirendos”

But he skirted the query of Councilor Francisco Remitar about the station’s legal papers to operate saying that some radio stations in the city were already authorized by NTC and issued with Provisional Authority (PA) “so they could already operate on test broadcast.”

Earlier, several Tagum councilors had questioned the legal papers of the said station built by a certain Fernando Marquez.

The station’s management had already resorted to self censorship when it suddenly terminated the blocktime program of broadcasters Ben Wang and Manny Pajarito who made recurring criticisms to some city councilors and other provincial officials.

Go did not also specify the franchise and authority status of other small FM stations in the city which he cited as 99.9 FM, K91.5 FM and the Radyo Natin of the Manila Broadcasting Corp (MBC) even as he bared that there are two other FM stations applying for PA at NTC given that the city’s airwaves have still a lot of radio frequencies for allocation unlike Davao City’s airwaves that are already wholly filled up with radio frequencies.

He bared that the NTC policy now is to grant PA only to those stations having a minimum of 1,000-watt power.

In the past NTC has allowed small FM stations notably the MBC Hot FM stations that operated in 1-watt to 500-watt power.

As this developed, an MBC high-watt Radyo Natin station management in Nabunturan has long complained over the alleged refusal of Mayor Macario Humol to issue business permit to their station since October last year resulting to stoppage of broadcast despite NTC’s authorization.

The said station started as 1-watt small MBC franchisee station in 2002 and later shifted and operated as MBC Radyo Natin for over 2 years until it stopped broadcasting shortly before the 2007 polls reportedly due to internal conflict in its management.

Nabunturan town councilor Alfonso “Jun” Tabas, former anchor of the station, told Sidlak that Humol is allegedly not issuing business permit “due to politics.”

Tabas has been critical of Humol since early this year due to the P90-million bond flotation, charged to be expensive and exorbitant project pushed by the latter.

Due to Humol’s continued refusal to issue a permit, the station affiliate owner Lito Olarte is accordingly incurring monthly losses due to his continued payment of monthly rental for the station’s office and antenna in new location since late last year.

Tabas said Olarte is reportedly preparing to file a mandamus case against Humol. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Filed under: councilor joey millan, councilor francisco remitar, jun tabas, radio station comval tagum, mbc, X88.7 fm