Binay to DOTr, LTFRB: Don't ignore the plight of jeepney drivers
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Nancy Binay on Thursday reiterated her call to the transportation department to address the plight of traditional jeepney drivers who are struggling amid the COVID-19 crisis.
"The Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board should not be blind and deaf to the cries of jeepney drivers," she said in Filipino.
She also called out the department and its LTFRB agency for giving false hope to drivers with inconclusive answers.
"Our drivers are dizzy from the runaround between the DOTr and the LTFRB on when they can get back on the road. Why don't they just tell them straight whatever the government's plan is for them? Will jeeps be able to come back or not," the senator questioned in Filipino.
Heading into the fourth week of general community quarantine, the LTFRB told reporters that more than 100 routes would be opened, but only for modernized PUVs and excluding the 55,000 jeepneys in Metro Manila.
"It's painful to think that the government has allowed the livelihood of jeepney drivers to fade away. To tell them to their face that they are not part of the hierarchy of essential sectors — no aid, no plan, no support [has been offered to them]," Binay said in Filipino.
Limited public transportation options due to strict social distancing measures have weighed on commuters and transport workers alike. Many workers have been forced to walk and bike to work as calls mount to allow traditional PUJs and UV express back on the road.
LTFRB chief Martin Delgra on Wednesday told the House committee on Metro Manila development that UV express vans and conventional jeepneys will be back on the road next week.
Despite this, the transport department previously said that it would continue to pursue its phaseout of the traditional public utility jeepney (PUJs) in favor of modern ones amid the health, economic and transport crisis in the country.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan on Monday called this insistence on modernization "insensitive and ill-timed," pointing out what he said was discrimination against traditional jeepneys on the government's part.
"Commuters suffer daily. When jeepneys and UV Express are allowed back on the road, two problems can be immediately resolved: commuters vehicles and jobs for jeepneys and UV express drivers. The commuters, who are tired from work, are constantly being forced to walk the kilometers to work and home," he said in Filipino.
"Health and safety protocols such as physical distancing and regular disinfection on traditional jeepneys and UV express can be implemented. We believe that commuters also work together to implement these protocols because no one wants to be infected with the virus," he added. — with reports from Franco Luna
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