PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. has approved a three-month extension for the franchise consolidation of public utility vehicles (PUVs) to give those who want to consolidate more time to do so, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Chely Garafil said yesterday.
“President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved Transport Secretary Jaime J. Bautista’s recommendation, granting an additional three months until April 30, 2024 for the consolidation of public utility vehicles. This extension is to give an opportunity to those who expressed intention to consolidate but did not make the previous cut-off,” Garafil said.
The Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said 190,000 PUVs, composed of UV Express (82 percent), public utility jeepneys (75 percent), mini-buses (45 percent) and buses (86 percent), have consolidated under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
The initial deadline for consolidation was last December 31, 2023. Those who failed to consolidate or join transportation cooperatives only had until January 31, 2024 to operate and ply their routes.
Since the start of the modernization program in 2017, a total of 1,728 cooperatives and corporations have been established, with 262,344 members having joined or consolidated.
The PUVMP aims to improve the public transport system in the country and make both commuting and public transportation operations more dignified, humane, and at par with global standards.
It also seeks to provide Filipino commuters with a comfortable ride by providing a safer, more efficient, reliable, convenient, affordable, climate-friendly, and environmentally sustainable transportation system in the country.
Earlier, the House Committee on Transportation adopted a resolution urging President Marcos Jr. to extend the grace period in the implementation of the Passenger Utility Vehicle (PUV) modernization program.
The panel chaired by Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop recommended the extension of the January 31 deadline given to unconsolidated PUVs because starting February 1, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will treat these jeepneys as “colorum” or illegally operating because the expiry of its memorandum allowing individual operators in routes without a consolidated transport service entity (TSE) to operate.
The resolution was adopted during the continuation of the hearing of the panel on the alleged anomalies and corruption in the implementation of the modernization program, which was initiated under the Duterte administration.
Speaker Martin Romualdez, who instructed the Acop panel to look into the modernization program, has said his office has received reports “that corrupt practices may have tainted the conceptualization and planned implementation” of the modernization program.
Romualdez earlier cited reports that existing transport officials are allegedly in cahoots with previous officials in the negotiations for the importation of modern jeepney units to replace old ones.
Rep. Arlene Brosas (PL, Gabriela), however, said “It is highly illogical for the Marcos Jr. administration to just extend the deadline.” “All the issues point to only one solution: junk the mandatory franchise consolidation and the anti-poor modernization program to protect our jeepney drivers’ livelihood,” she said.
According to the LTFRB’s data, the majority of jeepney and UV Express routes in Metro Manila will be affected by the deadline. There are still 395 jeepney routes and 108 UV Express routes in Metro Manila without any consolidation.
Additionally, there are 337 jeepney routes and 68 UV Express routes in Metro Manila with consolidation that has not yet reached 60 percent. There are still 1,767 routes without consolidation nationwide.
Brosas said Marcos should heed the call of thousands of jeepney drivers and operators and completely scrap the PUV modernization program “to avert a massive transport crisis.”
The PUV Modernization Program, which started under the Duterte administration, aims to replace traditional jeepneys with vehicles that have at least a Euro 4-compliant engine to help environmental protection.
The program requires individual operators to “consolidate” or join cooperatives and corporations for easier processing of bank loans to avail of the modernized jeepneys.
The required franchise consolidation, a component in the modernization program, lapsed last December 31, 2023 but unconsolidated commuter jeepneys are still allowed to operate on selected routes until January 31.
It was revealed in the House hearing that PUV drivers will have to earn at least P6,000 to as much as P7,000 daily to pay for the amortization of modernized jeepney units since each imported unit costs P1.6 million to P2.8 million. — With Wendell Vigilia
