THE SUPREME Court (SC) has dismissed a petition filed by a jeepney drivers and operators’ group against the implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
In a 20-page ruling released on Monday, the High Court junked the petition filed by Bayyo Association, Inc. and its president Anselmo D. Perweg, citing the lack of legal standing to pursue the matter and for violating the hierarchy of courts.
The group had petitioned the SC to deem Department of Transportation Order 2017-11’s paragraph 5.2, which encourages the adoption of brand-new, environmentally friendly units under the PUVMP, unconstitutional.
The SC en banc stated in its July 11, 2023 ruling made public on Monday, that it was unable to use its judicial review authority since Bayyo lacked the necessary legal standing to submit the petition. The group failed to prove it is a legitimate association of jeepney drivers and operators.
Moreover, the High Court stressed “it is not a trier of facts” and the group should have filed in a lower court first.
“When litigants bypass the hierarchy of courts, the facts they claim before this Court are incomplete and disputed. Bypassing the judicial hierarchy requires more than just raising issues of transcendental importance. Without first resolving the factual disputes, it will remain unclear if there was a direct injury, or if there was factual concreteness and adversariness to enable this Court to determine the parties’ rights and obligations,” the decision read. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
