Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators ng Pilipinas (LTOP) President Orlando Marquez Sr. has called on lawmakers to repeal the Oil Deregulation Law in a bid to give the government powers to intervene amid the fuel price hikes in the light of the current Middle East crisis.
Marquez said the Oil Deregulation Law will remove the government’s authority on controlling oil prices in a bid to make oil companies more competitive, but it is currently preventing the government now from taking more actions amid soaring oil prices due to the ongoing war in the gulf region.
Marquez urged the government to abolish the JOINT ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 2014 01
REVISED SCHEDULE OF FINES AND PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING LAND TRANSPORTATION.
This Administrative Order has been the source of corruption in the streets with traffic enforcers making much money from this illegal act at the expense of transport operators nationwide.
This JAO has become the milking cow of traffic enforcers,
Marquez said.
Traffic regulation is primarily governed by Republic Act No. 4136 (Land Transportation and Traffic Code), which mandates vehicle registration, driver licensing, speed limits, and safety rules. Key regulations include mandatory seatbelts (RA 8750), prohibitions on drunk driving (RA 10586) and distracted driving (RA 10913), and helmet laws for riders (RA 10054).
“We call on Congress to put a stop on the Oil Deregulation Law with sense of urgency particularly the provisions on unbundling the price and the inclusion of the minimum inventory requirements in the law,” Marquez said in a live radio interview over Magnum Radio in Cagayan de Oro City.
He added that Congress should also look at “giving the government intervention powers or authority to intervene when there is a spike and/or prolonged increase of prices of oil products.”
At the same time, Marquez deplored the the Joint Administrative Order of LTFRB as anti-transport and anti-poor considering its abusive implementationly the traffic enforcers having the grand time of making advantage of the situation on the ground.
