PNR may operate buses–DOJ

There is no legal obstacle to the Philippine National Railways reviving its old bus service that used to run Luzon routes, the Department of Justice has ruled. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–There is no legal obstacle to the Philippine National Railways (PNR) reviving its old bus service that used to run Luzon routes, the Department of Justice has ruled.

In a two-page legal opinion released on Friday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the PNR’s plan to operate a bus service was well within the government-owned firm’s mandate under Republic Act No. 4156, the 1964 law that created the PNR and provided its charter.

De Lima issued the opinion following a request from PNR General Manager Joseph Allan Dilay.

Dilay recalled that the PNR used to operate a bus line that served the public between Manila and Dagupan City but the buses vanished as the years passed.

Dilay said there has been an increasing clamor for the PNR to activate its bus service.

De Lima noted that under RA 4156, the PNR was created “to serve as an instrumentality of the government in providing a railroad and transportation system.”

“The purpose and powers of the PNR are clear and explicit from the…provisions of the PNR Charter, as amended, that there is no need for interpretation, only application,” the secretary explained.

She cited Section 2 of RA 4156 which states that the PNR is empowered by Congress “to own or operate a railroad, tramways and other kinds of land transportation, vessels and pipelines for the purpose of transporting, for consideration, passengers, mail and property between any points in the Philippines.”–Jerome Aning