SCENIC VIEW | One of many resorts in Kapatagan village, on this Jan. 25 picture, provides a scenic view of Mt. Apo, the nation’s highest peak, a key attraction that lures vacationers to the world. (Photograph by ELDIE AGUIRRE / Philippine Day by day Inquirer)
DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — Vacationers who wish to discover the scenic journey spots on the foot of Mt. Apo in Barangay Kapatagan right here can now simply attain the world by way of the newly launched fashionable buses plying the route from Digos Metropolis to the village and all the way in which to Bansalan city of Davao del Sur province.
Nonito Llanos III, director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Davao area, mentioned eight fashionable buses, outfitted with world positioning system and free Wi-Fi, have began serving the Digos Metropolis to Kapatagan and Bansalan route since Jan. 25, for the comfort not solely of residents but additionally vacationers searching for ecotourism adventures on the foot of the nation’s highest peak.
Decrease fare
Llanos and officers of Bansalan city and Digos Metropolis awarded the provisional authority to function to the buses operated by the Kapatagan Transport Cooperative (Katco) on Jan. 25, as a part of the federal government’s Public Utility Automobile Modernization Program that inspired drivers and operators throughout the nation to shift into utilizing public transport automobiles, thought of to be extra environment friendly and fewer dangerous to the setting as these adhered to the European carbon emission requirements.
The 25-seat buses will cost every passenger P65 for the journey from this metropolis correct to Kapatagan, which is cheaper than the P165 collected by motorbike cabs, or “tricabs,” plying the route.
“It is a completely different idea from the previous,” mentioned Llanos through the automobiles’ turnover outdoors the Barangay Corridor of Kapatagan, a village 36 kilometers from this metropolis’s nationwide freeway. “This time, it’s the stakeholders who’re granted the facility to determine which routes badly want fashionable automobiles for the comfort of the driving public,” he added.
In line with Llanos, Katco is entitled to fifteen Class-3 modernized utility automobiles however solely eight buses have been launched to this point by its provider Autokid, with the Improvement Financial institution of the Philippines because the monetary supplier. Katco’s utility was permitted solely in April final yr.
Not a contest
Juanito Morales, Kapatagan village chair, assured the tricab operators that the buses would solely choose up passengers on the terminal space in Kapatagan and wouldn’t have an effect on the routes that they served.
Morales advised the 160 tricab operators who attended the launching that the presence of buses would, in reality, enhance the variety of individuals coming to the world, which might imply extra passengers for them to serve.
Digos Councilor Dominic Fernandez additionally introduced town council could be issuing particular permits for tricab drivers and operators as a gesture of help and be sure that their livelihood could be protected. Board Member Ayo, who heads the transport committee on the Provincial Board, additionally backed the proposal.
—ELDIE AGUIRRE
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