NEWSFLASH

PROVINCIAL BUS OPERATORS SEEK ODD-EVEN SCHEME
(BY Sheila Crisostomo)

Manila, June 26, 2000 - Provincial bus operators are seeking an exemption from the Metro Manila Development Authority's (MMDA) odd-even scheme, saying the regulation has caused them to lose 20 percent of their earnings each day.

Alex Yague, president of the Provincial Bus Operators of the Philippines, said that the MMDA should soften the restriction in consideration of their plight.

"We are contending with the rising cost of fuel, spare parts and batteries. With the odd-even scheme, we are losing more of our earnings," he said.

Yague complained that bus operators can now hardly cope with the rising cost of maintaining their buses due to plummeting earnings and rising costs.

He estimated that 20 percent of their earnings have been lost since buses cannot ply their routes one day a week.

The odd-even scheme prohibits public and private vehicles from passing through major thoroughfares on certain days that correspond to the last digit of their license plates. Those with license plates ending in 1 and 2 are banned on Mondays, 3 and 4 on Tuesdays and so on.