One of reasons is loss of income: 58 Beep units to stop plying

CEBU, Philippines — Around 58 units of Beep Cebu's modernized jeepneys will stop plying their routes for six months starting this Sunday, Oct. 1

Raising the alarm bell, Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco said he will request the City Council to summon the Beep Cebu management and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-7 to join its session for a discussion.

LTFRB-7 Director Eduardo Montealto, Jr., though, said commuters need not worry because the Beep Cebu units can be immediately replaced with others to take on their routes.

“Naa man tay daghan nga ikapuli. Dili ra ta mag worry ana,” said Montealto, who received the notice from the Beep management yesterday morning.

He said there are currently 200 modernized jeepney units that are just on "standby" or are not operating.

“Kaning wala nanagan pwede ni sila na pud ang modagan as a replacement sa mawala sa Beep,” Montealto said.

There are 1,127 units of modernized jeepneys and 2,000 units of traditional jeepneys that are currently operating within Cebu.

In its Sept. 22 memorandum, Beep Cebu admitted the company has been struggling and cited four reasons why.

One is the "Russia-Ukraine War, resulting in loss of spare parts, preventing effective dispatch of 20 Gazelle unit."

Another is the "loss of original route income because of continuous issuance of Special Permits to PUV (public utility vehicle) competitors on the routes Cebu City Hall to IT Park route, Banawa to Panagdait route."

The other reasons are the "delay in requested route extensions/ modifications;" and the "BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) construction works affecting the route Guadalupe to Carbon."

The company said that to "stave off worse losses, they will need to wait for favorable conditions to return in Cebu."

Aside from all Beep Cebu drivers and passenger assistant officers undergoing work suspension, it would also have its terminal staff placed under "flexible work arrangement."

Montealto said Beep Cebu's reasons were "justifiable," as he reminded that Beep units were the first ones to heed LTFRB's call for the modernized jeepneys' deployment in Cebu five years ago.

“Sila gyud ang pioneer sa modernized jeepneys diri sa Cebu. Pero dili ta makapugong nila kung mo temporarily stop sila pag operate sa ilang negosyo,” he said.

He confirmed that 20 of Beep Cebu's units are made in Russia. With the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, spare parts are indeed hard to come by.

“So ang ilang 20 units nga Russian made, wala na gyud to makadagan unya ang uban nila nga units is China made nga nangaguba na pud. So, dili profitable,” Montealto said.

At the Cebu City Hall, Cuenco who heads the council committee on transportation and communication, said he learned of the plan for Beep Cebu units to temporarily halt operations, only yesterday.

"Dako kaayo ni'g epekto sa atoang riding public kay kining Beep, especially during the pandemic, mao man gyud na ang ga-active atong panahona," he told reporters.

Cuenco, who called the plan "bad timing," said he will file a resolution requesting the management and LTFRB-7 to appear before the City Council to discuss the situation.

"This can still be resolved, if we will talk about it with the LTFRB. Maybe they can still talk about it," he said.

He acknowledged, though, that there were reasons Beep Cebu cited that are out of anyone's control, such as the Ukraine-Russia war and the BRT construction

"We will do something with what we can do on our end. We will sit down and talk about it….  Ato ning husayon pag-ayo," Cuenco said.

"Maybe ma-resolve pa ni kay ang dako gyud nga epekto ani, ang mag-suffer, not only the riding public but also the employees sa Beep," he added. — (FREEMAN)