By Alexandria San Juan Various transport groups filed on Thursday a petition to a Quezon City court to halt a government order that strictly implements a terminal-to-terminal operation of all UV Express service units. (Photo from Defend Job Philippines) Leaders of UV Express drivers and operators associations, the Stop and Go Transport Coalition, and labor group Defend Job Philippines led the filing of a petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and writ of preliminary mandatory injunction at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court against Memorandum Circular 2019-025 of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). Under the memorandum issued last month, all UV express service vehicles are directed to "strictly operate" on a point-to-point basis, prohibiting them to pick-up or drop-off passengers in between endpoints. The order was greeted with protests from different groups who opposed the agency's move despite explanation from LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra that it is in line with the original policy of a UV Express service based on their franchise. The LTFRB has delayed the supposed implementation of the memorandum for two weeks beginning June 1 to give way for public consultations on the matter. The suspension is expected to be lifted on June 15, Saturday, and is presumed to take effect immediately and be implemented next week. "We call on our courts to heed our appeal to stop the implementation of the UV express P2P scheme of the LTFRB. This policy is an addition to the numbers of anti-transport and anti-commuters’ policies of the LTFRB,” Jun Magno, national president of the Stop and Go Transport Coalition, said. Magno, who represented the petitioners, also urged the LTFRB to study proposals for a "selected stop system of pick-up and drop-off points" among different routes instead of ordering a point-to-point system which he said will burden both drivers and passengers. According to Magno, this was also his proposal during a one-day consultation with the Board last week which was apparently not accepted. "Nagkaroon kami ng dialogue last week pero wala namang nangyari. Ang sinabi ni Chairman Delgra, kung ano ang nakalagay sa memo, iyon na ang susundin," he narrated. "Sa tingin ko ang policy nila ay take it or leave it. Ang aming suggestion, dapat may participation kami sa mga dialogue dahil kami ang laman ng kalsada araw-araw," Magno added. For the part of the commuters, Defend Job Philippines spokesperson Christian Magsoy slammed the LTFRB memo which he said will largely affect workers who comprise almost 70 percent of UV Express commuters on a daily basis. "Implementing a point-to-point policy for UV express will mean longer travel time and additional transportation fare for Filipino workers who rely on the UV transport services for the longest time now," Magsoy said in a statement. Apart from the petition, the groups said they are also aiming to gather at least a million signatures through a nationwide signature campaign against the LTFRB memorandum. Meanwhile, Magno bared that should the order pushed through, they are looking into the possibility of staging a massive transport strike for their continuous protest on the order.