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The
city government has secured a 72-hour temporary restraining
order (TRO) last Monday denying the collection of P20 terminal
fee by the Philippines Ports Authority (PPA) at the Tagbilaran
wharf that was supposed to start yesterday.
Regional
Trial Court (RTC), Branch 49 Executive Judge Fernando Fuentes
III acted swiftly last Monday on the petition filed by City
Mayor Dan Lim in behalf of the city government.
Starlight
Marine and Industrial Services Corp. was supposed to collect
an additional P8.75 terminal fee to the existing P11.25, which
will accrue to the PPA for the recovery of costs on the newly-installed
luggage X-Ray machine and passengers' Walk-through Detector.
City
Hall's petition prayed for a preliminary injunction, temporary
restraining order and ex-parte temporary order.
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The
ex-parte 72-hour TRO will expire tomorrow afternoon
while the RTC has rescheduled the raffle of the petition
for preliminary injunction today.
The
special raffle was originally set at 11 o'clock this
morning, however, the petition was assigned to Presiding
Judge Achilles Melicor who is currently on leave.
Meanwhile,
PPA-Manila is preparing to answer the city government's
petition through the legal proceedings, Acting Tagbilaran
Port Manager Rolly Gambuta told the Chronicle yesterday.
He
said Starlight will have to hold in abeyance with the
collection of the P20 per passenger fee while the TRO
is in effect.
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Gambuta
was served a copy of the 72-hour order yesterday morning.
Mayor
Lim, for his part, during an interview over dyRD's top-rated
"Inyong Alagad" yesterday called the terminal fee
increase "excessive" and will greatly prejudice
the public.
The
mayor noted that the Tagbilaran City Airport is collecting
P20 when most of its passengers belong to high-income earners
while most port passengers that will be affected with the
hike belong to the low-income bracket.
The
ex-parte 72-hour TRO was immediately issued by Judge Fuentes
"considering the proximity of the time in the implementation
(by PPA and Starlight) of the increased terminal fee and as
the matter is of extreme urgency as to protect the petitioner
(city government) as well as the riding public in general
to suffer grave injustice and irreparable injury."
In
its petition, the city government questioned the implementation
of the increase despite the absence of a public consultation
with stakeholders and the residents of Tagbilaran City.
Acting
Manager Gambuta denied that there was no consultation conducted
by PPA. He recalled that the late PPA Port Manager Raul Oblenda
convened a public hearing at the Metro Centre Hotel regarding
the proposed increase.
In
fact, Vice Mayor Nuevas Montes represented the city during
that public consultation sometime last year.
The
proposed increase was even P22.50. However, PPA reduced it
to P20, he said.
It may be recalled that the PPA installed the X-Ray machine
and Walk-through Detector after a clamor for tighter security
at the city wharf where passengers, mostly tourists, have
increased.
According
to PPA data, 60 to 70-percent of arrivals and departures at
the Tagbilaran port are tourists.
The
X-Ray machine and Walk-through Detector, installed inside
the Starlight Terminal building, was purchased by the PPA
for P7-million.
The
P8.75 terminal fee will defray for its repair and maintenance,
cost of operation, depreciation and a return-on-asset (ROA)
of 10-percent of cost spread over the machines' estimated
life span of ten years.
A
computation presented by the PPA as basis of the terminal
fee increase was also questioned by City Hall as well as the
actual cost of the machines.
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