The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has issued a 30-day preventive suspension order against A.Prado Transit and Gurim Travel & Tours Corp. after their respective buses figured in two separate road accidents in Batangas and Quezon City on Friday.
“The Board is swiftly issuing the PSOs to the operators of Prado Transit and Gurim Travel & Tours Corp. for recklessness of their bus drivers putting into danger the lives of passengers; we will not tolerate this act of carelessness, hence we are immediately suspending the operations of all the units of these bus companies to prevent the same accident from happening in the future,” LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez said.
The Prado Transit bus accident happened at 7:20 a.m. on April 22 along Commonwealth Ave. corner Mindanao Ave. Extension, Quezon City; via Makati-bound Prado Transit bus (UVP-265) hit a UV Express, plowed through bystanders before ramming into an eatery, killing two bystanders, including a pregnant woman, and injuring nine others.
The Gurim Travel & Tours Corp. bus (DWX-480) carrying 59 passengers mostly teachers from Angono, Rizal, crashed into a tree in Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas on Friday, April 22, 2016, resulting in the death of six and injuries to 50 others.
Prado’s eight units have also been ordered grounded in their garage located at 174 Mayon St., Quezon City or at 4047 Barangay Sta. Monica, Quirino Hi-way, Novaliches, Quezon City.
The operator of the bus company, Alberto Prado, has also been instructed by the Board to surrender the yellow plates of the eight units on April 23, 2016 at 10 a.m.
The operator of Gurim Travel & Tours Corp. has been directed to surrender all the yellow plates of the nine units to the legal division of the Board on April 25 at 9 a.m.
The two bus companies must bring all their units to the Motor Vehicle Inspection Service of the Land Transportation Office for inspection and determination of their roadworthiness before they are again allowed to operate the board said.
The board also required Prado Transit & Gurim Travel and Tours Corp. to submit a report on their hiring system and supervision of authorized drivers.
The drivers of the units will likewise undergo Road Safety Seminar conducted by the Board or by authorized training centers.
Both bus firms were given 72 hours upon receipt of the suspension order to explain in writing why their Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) should not be suspended, canceled and/or revoked for violation of the terms and conditions of its franchise.
The operator of Prado Transit and Gurim Travel together with their respective drivers must also appear at the hearing of the case on May 3 at 9 a.m. in the Board’s main office.