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They need a month to answer burning questions?
“Government officials have asked the Supreme Court to give them 30 more days to answer petitions seeking to halt recent fare hikes for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT). However, the move was denounced by one of the petitioners, who said it would only ‘prolong the agony’ of commuters,” reports Tara Quismundo in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The report revealed that “the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) asked the tribunal for a monthlong extension of what was supposed to be a ‘non-extendible period of 10 days,’ citing the three-day holiday declared in Metro Manila for the recent visit of Pope Francis.”
As such, the OSG argued that the respondents should be given until Feb 23 to file their replies.
Among those named as respondents in the petitions are Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Jun Abaya, MRT-3 Officer-in-Charge Renato San Jose, and LRT Authority (LRTA) Administrator Honorito Chaneco. They, as the report indicated, had been given until Jan 26 to respond to the petitions seeking to stop the fare adjustments which took effect on Jan 4.
The report noted: “The OSG motion was in reply to the cases filed by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and former Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr. which have since been consolidated.”
Bayan has vowed to oppose the motion asking for a 30-day extension because “it would further delay court deliberations on its application for a temporary restraining order (TRO).”
Photo: Jacque Manabat, ABS-CBN News (Twitter)
