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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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January 17, 2018
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MANILA – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) was told to report on the developments in the jeepney modernization program that the government will start carrying out this year.
“We want to know what has happened to the modernization program. Has the DOTr come up with clear guidelines on how to implement this? There are still many things to be ironed out,” Sen. Grace Poe said on Tuesday.
Poe said the DOTr should give the public updates “to avoid confusion and misinformation.”
“All the details should be laid on the table because as far as ordinary jeepney drivers are concerned, it is their livelihood that is at stake here,” said the chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Public Services.
Meanwhile, Poe appealed to jeepney operators and drivers for sobriety after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) started enforcing its “Tanggal Bulok, Tanggal Usok” campaign.
The campaign, which the LTFRB jointly enforces with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, aims to “provide proper, safe, clean, and efficient transport service for Filipino commuters.”
Addressing public transport motorists who may hold a strike to protest the policy, Poe pointed out that “the lack of transportation hits the commuters hard and disrupts work and classes.”
Poe, in a Senate hearing in December last year, proposed that a “pilot testing” before the modernization program is enforced.
The program compels jeepney operators to buy new units that cost between P1.5 million and P1.8 million each. Government subsidy is a measly P80,000.
According to Poe, the DOTr should first try the program on specific areas, and focus on doable tests, such as compliance to safety, road worthiness and smoke emission.
“The government should step in to ensure the public a convenient and safe way to commute, with the opportunity for the drivers and operators to upgrade their vehicles. However, it should not be too burdensome for them,” she said./PN
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