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City asks DOTC to beef up PUV smoke testing centers

BAGUIO CITY (Aug 26) — Mayor Braulio D. Yaranon approved this week a city resolution requesting the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC-CAR) to install emission testing centers (ETCs) for public utility vehicles (PUVs).

City Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia, author of the approved measure pointed out that despite the establishment of ETCs thick black smoke and choking stench of emissions still exist.

“Numerous PUVs plying city streets,” Balajadia said, “use diesel fuel and emit carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas perceived to be the main source of air pollution in the city.”

The measure also points out that those private ETCs are not sufficient to reduce motor vehicle smoke emissions. This necessitates that DOTC-CAR establish its own ETCs with the Land Transportation Office (LTO-CAR) to ensure strict compliance with the mandates of the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999. # Gabby Keith/PIO

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Yaranon blocks van franchises

BAGUIO CITY (Aug. 26) — Mayor Braulio D. Yaranon last week vetoed the city council resolution legalizing the franchises of six garage van transport groups in the city as he vowed to check indiscriminate issuance of public utility vehicle franchises following reports that there are already more than 9,000 mega-taxis plying the city.

Yaranon invoked Resolution No. 317 series of 2001 as well as earlier resolutions, which all interpose vigorous objections to all new applications and request the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to maintain a moratorium on the acceptance of PUV applications because these tend to aggravate the traffic problem of the city.

The vetoed council resolution approved the legalization of franchises of six groups, namely Pines Garage Association, Inc.; Binalonan-San Roque-Carmen Transport Association, Rosario Express Vans Operators Association; Cabanatuan Express Vans Operators; Baguio-Urdaneta-Carmen-Cabanatuan Transport Association, Inc.; and Millenium Transport.

The legislators recommended the legalization of these franchises as they cited their contribution to the mobility of city residents and tourists. They said, these vans do not pose any traffic hazard because their route is out of the bottleneck and that their loading and unloading terminals are not in the central business district. The city council also recommended that vans should be road-worthy and properly insured to include passenger liability

Earlier the council committee on public utilities, transportation and traffic legislation, headed by Councilor Rocky Balisong, conducted hearings on the problem and found that most of these are operating out of line and in breach of franchise conditions because they are either vehicles for hire, school service or totally without certificate of public conveyance. # Aileen P. Refuerzo/PIO

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“Window system” okay in Baguio

BAGUIO CITY (Aug. 26) — An experiment in traffic will run from September 1 to November 1 as City Council Resolution No. 229 series of 2005 gained the support of city Mayor Braulio D. Yaranon.

The “window system” will allow private vehicles covered by the number-coding scheme to enter the central business district on a particular day from 10A.M. to 3:00P.M.

Patterned after Manila’s traffic control system, the window system stemmed from requests by private vehicle owners to be exempted from the number-coding scheme. # Aileen P. Refuerzo/PIO

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Baguio Realty tax down up to 20%

BAGUIO CITY (Aug. 26) — Real property taxes may be reduced to as high as 20% if taxpayers pay in full and in advance as mayor Braulio D. Yaranon recently approved the new incentive schedule under an amendatory ordinance passed on August 1.

Yaranon approved on August 12 Tax Ordinance 2005-03 that increased the discounts from 10% to 20% on realty taxes and the additional tax accruing to the Special Education Fund if these are paid in full in January.

The new discount rate is the maximum pegged under Section 251 of the Local Government Code, which allows the local legislators to grant discounts not exceeding 20% of the annual tax due.

Likewise, if the taxpayer pays taxes in full in February, he gets 15% discount while those who pay in full in March will get a 10% discount.

An increase in the discount will encourage advanced payment and will redound to a more effective tax collection, the amendatory ordinance states.

The ordinance amended Tax Ordinance 2000-01 that initially set the discount at 10%.

Councilor Elmer Datuin authored the new tax measure. It will take effect after the last date of its publication in full for three consecutive days in a newspaper of local circulation. # Ramon Dacawi/PIO

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