Senate joins call by jeepney drivers, operators to postpone phaseout
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate adopted Tuesday a resolution "strongly urging" the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to postpone the scheduled phaseout of traditional jeepneys on June 30.
The LTFRB has required jeepney operators to consolidate their franchises under a cooperative or corporation for their jeepneys to be allowed on the road past that date, and even then only until December 31. Transport groups that have been opposing the government program to replace traditional jeepneys with minibuses said the new units are too expensive to buy and have said they hold a week-long strike in protest.
"To enforce a deadline is not only insanity, but also inhumane," Sen. Grace Poe said in sponsoring the resolution that she authored. "It is contrary to the constitutional directive to promote social justice in all phases of national development."
"It is also contrary to public welfare, as it will compound the acute shortage of public transportation modes in the country,” she continued.
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Senators took turns to express their support for the resolution, which only expresses the opinion of the chamber on an issue and is not binding.
Particularly, they scored the LTFRB for expecting jeepney drivers to cough up around P2 million to buy a modern jeep and for still not having a final route rationalization plan.
"We are not against modernization per se, Mr. President. But we’re calling on LTFRB to be more considerate given the recent pandemic and the state of our economy. It’s very clear that their program is a failure," Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said.
Transport groups have said they will mount a week-long strike beginning Monday, March 6, in response to the LTFRB’s plan to take traditional jeepneys off the streets.
Under the current PUV Modernization Program, operators must surrender their individual franchises for consolidation into a Fleet Management System, pushing them to purchase 15 imported minibuses per route.
According to PISTON, only large corporations would have the financial capacity to buy the 15 vehicles to operate a single route without being buried in debt.
LTFRB chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III earlier said that only 60% of the target number of vehicles for modernization have complied with the directive to consolidate franchises. — Xave Gregorio with a report from James Relativo
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