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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Tuesday, May 23, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. once again called for the modernization of the Philippine transportation system.
“There is a need to retire old vehicles,” Marañon stressed.
Transport groups plan to hold a strike in June to protest the modernization program of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board that seeks to phase out public utility vehicles (PUVs) 15 years old and older.
Old and dilapidated vehicles “cause pollution and accidents” and “are no longer roadworthy.” Aside from that, they are “no longer fuel-efficient,” said Marañon.
The governor also believes phasing out old vehicles can help minimize traffic congestion.
But Marañon suggested that the process of taking old vehicles off the streets be done “phase by phase.”
“We need to modernize our transportation system, like in other countries,” he said. “Our jeepneys here (in Negros Occidental) are so dilapidated, even models during the time of Gen. Douglas MacArthur are still on the streets.”
In February, Marañon thumb down the suggestion that old vehicles be rehabilitated instead. That would be “difficult,” he said.
While the “most popular” mode of transportation among Filipinos, jeepneys are “inefficient.”
They are the primary cause of heavy vehicular traffic in Metro Manila and have been around since World War II, he told reporters then.
United Negros Drivers and Operators Center secretary-general Diego Malacad claimed the phaseout plan will favor only moneyed PUV operators who can afford to buy brand-new vehicles in bulk.
Fares might rack up, too, when PUVs start using government-endorsed Euro 4-compliant engines, Malacad warned.
“Small operators and stakeholders will be affected,” he said, adding that the government should instead push for “vehicle rehabilitation.”
In a radio interview, he said the strike in Negros Occidental could last from June 5 to 9 but he has yet to confirm this in a meeting in Manila.
Malacad said they were supposed to hold the “Untat Biyahe” from May 22 to 23 but cancelled the plan because they were unprepared./PN
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