Marcos to decide on Senate's call to suspend PUV modernization
MANILA, Philippines — It is up to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to decide whether to heed the Senate resolution urging the suspension of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
A total of 22 senators signed a resolution urging for the suspension of the PUVMP until the concerns of stakeholders are addressed. The long-delayed PUVMP, initially introduced during former president Rodrigo Duterte's administration, faced protests from the transport sector.
Undersecretary Jesus Ferdinand Ortega, who heads the Department of Transportation's cooperatives office, said the department has already assured the Senate that the PUVMP is being implemented properly. When asked about the DOTr’s position on the program following the resolution, Ortega said it would continue.
“Our president will make the decision regarding that resolution,” Ortega said on GMA’s "Unang Balita."
“We will say that it continues because that's the order of the president, that's the order of the [transportation] secretary. We have to pursue this program because we know we can improve what we have been doing for the past year,” Ortega said in mixed Filipino and English.
Ortega also defended the DOTr after the Senate criticized the lack of sufficient information dissemination among operators and drivers. He said dialogue has been ongoing since last year and that there has been a high rate of consolidation.
While waiting for Marcos’ response, however, Ortega said the PUVMP would proceed despite the Senate's call for its suspension.
Marcos has already extended the deadline for the consolidation of jeepneys, an integral part of the PUVMP, into cooperatives.
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