BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) have been ordered to resolve the appeal of several jeepney drivers and operators to review the implementation of the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP), formerly called the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
Naealla Bainto Aguinaldo, deputy executive secretary to the Office of the President, directed Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and Teofilo Guadez, III, LTFRB chairman, to take “appropriate action” on the resolution of the Iloilo City Council, which sought to review the implementation of the program and resolve the concern raised by affected operators and drivers in the city regarding the financial viability of the said program.
“The purpose of this letter is only to forward a copy of the correspondence and should not, in any way, be construed as intervening in the recipient’s independent evaluation and action on the matter, by existing laws, rules, and regulations,” read Aguinaldo’s directive.
Twenty-two senators recently sought the program’s suspension due to the supposed insufficiency of the government’s information drive on the PTMP and the financial burden on drivers and operators to procure modern jeepneys.
The senators signed the resolution to suspend the PUV modernization program, which aims to replace old jeepneys and other public utility vehicles with safer, more efficient, and environmentally friendly models.
But President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had rejected senators’ call to halt the public transport modernization program.
“I disagree with them because sinasabi nila minadali. This has been postponed seven times, the modernization has been postponed for seven times,” Marcos said.
He added that around 80 percent of operators have complied with the PUVMP’s requirement to consolidate into cooperatives for easier processing of bank loans to buy modern jeeps.
The DOTr said there was no need to suspend the PUV modernization program since about 83 percent of the jeepney operators in the country already consolidated themselves into transport cooperatives or corporations.
Several transport operators, drivers, and local legislators in Iloilo City have also supported the move to review the implementation of the PUV modernization program.
Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, the council’s transportation committee chairperson, earlier welcomed the senators’ proposal to suspend the program.
“The problem with this program is the dilly-dallying policies of our national government about public transport. We want the government to come up with final and definite policies on this program,” said Cabaluna.
For their part, several local transport operators also told legislators of the harassment and abuses they endured by their transport officers in managing their cooperatives.
“There are numerous and rising significant reports and complaints on cooperatives happening in Iloilo City transport cooperatives, by the implementation, we will be at a disadvantageous situation,” the transport operators said.
They also lamented the corrupt practices and irregularities committed by several LTFRB-6 personnel, particularly in the conduct of route consolidation processes.
In particular, the transport operators called for a gradual rollout in implementing the modernization program to allow operators more time to comply and spread out the financial impact.
They also suggested implementing the program in selected areas to test and refine the process before full–
Given these concerns, various transport groups and stakeholders, the Iloilo City Council earlier passed a resolution urging the DOTr to suspend the PUV modernization program until more feasible and acceptable measures to all stakeholders are in place.
The measure, authored by Councilor Romel Duron, noted that five of 10 components of the programs were not seriously considered by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) during the planning stage.
These components include route rationalization, financing, support mechanism, consolidation, and the vehicle useful program.
The LTFRB in Western Visayas reported a 72.2 percent franchise consolidation rate. In Iloilo City, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) approved 25 rationalized routes out of the original 35 routes before the approval of the LPTRP.
Out of 2,535 traditional jeepneys in the city, the DOTr authorized 1,782 modern jeepneys to ply these 25 approved rationalized routes comprising old and new routes. The 1,782 approved units have been allocated to 14 transport cooperatives and two corporations.
The resolution also mentioned the costly procurement of modern units, high operational costs, and the high tariffs imposed on imported utility vehicles.
Several transport cooperatives are also mismanaged due to a lack of training on how to effectively manage a fleet system./PN
