Under Shadow of TNVS Transport Holiday, Anti-Red Tape Authority Calls for Dialogue with Delgra

As Metro Manila's commuting public braces for a 'transport holiday' by Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) operators on Monday, July 8, as a sign of protest against the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board's (LTFRB), the  Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) has invited the Board's chairman, Atty. Martin Delgra III, to a dialogue "to discuss issues...and work together for a resolution."

Scheduled to take place on Monday--on the very day of the 'transport holiday'--at 8:30 AM at the Quezon City Memorial Circle, the dialogue will include TNVS leaders, Civil Service Commissioner--and former LTFRB member--Atty. Aileen Lizada, Department of Transportation Undersecretary Mark de Leon, and ARTA Officer-in-Charge/Director General Ernesto Perez.

When the 'transport holiday' was first announced, some of the points raised by TNVS operators were the LTFRB's "inconsistency in its procedural processes in terms of registration and application for TNVS," its "complicated high requirements," and "slow processing of the Board for acquiring and releasing provisional authority (PA) and Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC)."

Interestingly enough, in Perez's letter to Delgra inviting him to the dialogue, the former started with stating ARTA as being created "to promote integrity, accountability, proper management of public affairs and public property as well as to establish effective practices, aimed at efficient turnaround of the delivery of government services and the prevention of graft and corruption in the government." 

It's also worth noting that Lizada--who had often butted heads with Delgra during her tenure in the agency--will be attending the dialogue.

The Anti-Red Tape Authority was created in 2018 after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11032, otherwise known as the 'Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act.'