New Cotabato City public transport routes being studied

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Bangsamoro transportation and communications ministry and the local communities are now together trying to chart new routes for public vehicles here and overland arterial networks connecting the city to towns around.

Planners and research personnel of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board started consulting stakeholders this week as basis for the setting up of a comprehensive Local Public Transport Route Plan, or LPTRP.

The planned LPTRP aims to systematize and make convenient and faster the mobility of local residents relying on public transportation as main conveyances.

Minister Paisalin Pangandaman Tago of MOTC told reporters on Saturday that officials of the Bangsamoro LTFRB, which is under his ministerial control, had initiated initial dialogues with sectoral representatives and officials of different public transport blocs in a bid to produce a final LPTRP that is equitable and beneficial to all.

Cotabato City has 37 barangays adjacent to commercial and residentials sites in Maguindanao del Norte’s nearby Datu Odin Sinsuat town in the south and Sultan Kudarat in the north.

“The effort of MOTC and the Bangsamoro LTFRB towards that goal needs full public imprimatur. The riding public must have a strong say on the crafting of the LPTRP being mulled,” Tago said.

The presence of BARMM’s 32-hectare capitol here, where almost all of the regional offices of ministries of the autonomous regional government are located, is blamed for the congestion of the main routes of public transportation and large buses moving around.

Cotabato City only has two-lane thoroughfares with narrow side spaces.

Tago said he has ordered the personnel of the Bangsamoro LTFRB to initiate dialogues with city officials too as they proceed with their initiative of forging ahead a viable LTPRP.