By Kit BagaipoRegional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 47 has granted the petition of City Mayor Dan Lim for a writ of preliminary injunction to block the imposition of a P20 terminal fee of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
The order was promulgated by Presiding Judge Suceso Arcamo last Monday, a day after the 20-day temporary restraining order (TRO) previously granted by the RTC expired.
Despite the expiration of the TRO, PPA did not collect the P8.75 increase.
The PPA was supposed to implement the new terminal fee to defray the cost of a luggage X-ray machine and walk-through detector at the Starlight Terminal building.
In an interview with the Chronicle yesterday, Mayor Lim said the granting of the preliminary injunction is a victory for the residents of Tagbilaran and the Boholanos.
While the petition for permanent injunction will still be considered by the court, the mayor said there is a need for passengers and port users to be apprised that the X-ray machine and walk-through detector is not brand new as claimed by PPA.
The computation presented by PPA is exorbitant, the mayor said.
Acting port manager Rolly Gambuta, during a separate interview over dyRD's Inyong Alagad, said they will leave to the courts to decide on the case.
He maintained that PPA's imposition of an additional fee increase is reasonable and have, in fact, been approved during a consultation with the Ports Management Advisory Committee.
In his order, Judge Arcamo said, the argument of respondent (PPA) that the additional fee is reasonable, "the Court agrees that in so far as the businessman, the wealthy and foreign tourists are concerned, the additional amount of P8.75 or a total of P20 in all is reasonable, but certainly not when it comes to the ordinary and lowly Boholano travelers.
The ruling stated further that, "the Boholanos cannot stomach the P20 terminal fee here in the port of Tagbilaran for it is supposed to be a public terminal, only it is operated by a private corporation (Starlight)."
"The safety of boat passengers is the primary concern of the State through the PPA," the decision stated, "the Court could not see the necessity of having the public bear the burden just to acquire and maintain security equipment in the ports of Bohol. After all, it is still the taxpayers' money they are using."
(The Bohol Chronicle, June 20, 2007)Linkback:
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Topic: Injunction against Tagbilaran pier terminal fee hike issued (Read 904 times)