ILOILO City – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has dropped the plan to totally phase out old public utility jeepneys (PUJ) by July 2020. Local transport groups welcomed the move. But they have some reservations.
DOTr is letting old jeepneys remain on roads as long as they pass the motor vehicle inspection system or roadworthiness test.
“We are happy,” according to Raymundo Parcon, president of the Iloilo City Loop Alliance
of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association.
Jeepney drivers are actually not against transport modernization, stressed Parcon, and they in fact formed the Western Visayas Transport Cooperative (WVTC) to procure modern jeepneys as required by DOTr.
However, he said, there are some points they want to raise to the national government.
DOTr said the June 2020 deadline was scrapped because very few jeepney operators across the country have modernized mainly due to financial constraints.
The government’s move to modernize jeepneys aims to improve public transport safety and minimize air pollution.
Through Sen. Grace Poe who chairs the Senate public services committee, Parcon’s group pressed for the following:
* to consider PUJ rehabilitation instead of purchasing modern but cost-prohibitive PUJs
* to extend the transition period of the modernization program for another three to five years.
“We are for transport modernization. But we want to protect individual jeepney operators, too. The program should not lead to the displacement of individual operators due to the consolidation of their units into transport cooperatives,” said Parcon.
Their group is espousing that individual PUJ operators be allowed to modernize their own units.
“We will follow the DOTr criteria for modern jeepneys. We want to have compliant units, too, because we want to officer the public better service,” said Parcon.
Modern jeepneys are required to have, among others, Euro 4 engines that meet the European Union emission standards on harmful chemicals (such as toxic sulfur, benzene and carbon dioxide, etc.), Global Positioning System, automatic fare collection system, dashboard camera, speed limiter, and closed-circuit television camera.
Despite dropping the plan to phase out old jeepneys by June 2020, DOTr will still push through the modernization program.
But under this revised timetable, PUJ operators whose units have passed the road worthiness test will be granted a provisional authority (PA) only that is valid for one year. After a year, their units will have to undergo the test again.
To apply for a PA, the DOTr said operators must submit a petition for consolidation of units for a transport cooperative in June 2020 as well as a petition stating their intention to join the modernization program.
Should they fail to submit their petitions, their routes will be opened to applications from cooperatives that were able to modernize their units, the DOTr stressed.
This did not sit well with local transport groups.
“Imbes nga buligan kami sang gobyerno, daw gina-threaten pa kami,” said Parcon.
He appealed to the government to let individual jeepney operators buy their own Euro 4 engines and built the body (kaha) of their jeepneys instead of outright purchasing a modernized jeepney that costs P2.4 million.
“Kon kami mabakal sang makina, kami mapasad sang kaha, malab-ot lang guro sa P1.5 million,” said Parcon, stressing that Iloilo jeepney builders are known for the good quality of their work.
“Diin nga region may pinakanami mag obra sang jeep? Indi bala diri sa Iloilo? Kompara mo sa mga kompaniya sang mga salakyan nga haruson isa ka tuig nagakalkal na tungod nga mass produced ila. Ti karun magkwa kami sang P2.4 million nga salakyan, maglab-ot two years basi madagdag na kaha ya,” said Parcon.
He added: “Lain gid ya kon kami gapasad. Mabal-an namon ang ibutang nga mga materyales.”/PN