THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday said it is prepared to deal with the transport protest to be held today, Tuesday, by the Malayang Alyansa ng Bus Employees at Laborers (Manibela), including the deployment of augmentation vehicles to ferry affected commuters.
MMDA Chairperson Romando Artes said the agency’s command center in Pasig City will monitor the transport protest as early as 5 a.m. today.
Manibela president Mar Valbuena said 10,000 to 15,000 jeepney drivers and operators nationwide will participate in their protest action being held with the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON).
He said the protesting drivers and operators, along with their supporters, will converge at the University of the Philippines Diliman and head toward Mendiola in Manila.
The move is meant to protest the impending phaseout of traditional jeepneys as set in the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program.
Artes said that while the groups are not holding a “tigil pasada” or transport holiday, the agency is ready.
“We are ready to respond and assist our kababayans. We will monitor the situation as early as 5 a.m. and in case there is a disruption in the public transportation system, we will augment, we are ready,” Artes said.
In a press briefing at the PNP national headquarters in Camp Crame, PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. urged members of the transport groups to avoid violence.
Acorda said the protesters are free to express their sentiments through a transport strike but added the protesters should not resort to violence.
“I am encouraging those who will be participating in this protest or activity to do this peacefully and no one should be hurt,” Acorda said. “There are more peaceful means but your (police force) will be there (to address possible violence).”
In previous transport strikes conducted by Manibela, PISTON and other allied transport groups last year, including the week-long strikes last December to show their opposition to the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program, the MMDA and the 17 local government units in Metro Manila readied around 600 vehicles to ferry stranded passengers.
Artes insisted anew that the protest move would only have a minimal impact on public transport.
Artes said the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or number coding will not be suspended.
He said the MMDA, in coordination with the Metro LGUs and other government agencies, have fine-tuned their response plans.
Acorda said policemen would be deployed to ensure peace and order and would exercise “maximum tolerance” in dealing with the protesters.
Acorda said the PNP has readied some of its assets to provide free rides to commuters who may be affected.
PUJ CONSOLIDATION
Around 97.18 percent of registered public utility jeepneys (PUJs) in Metro Manila have already consolidated as part of efforts to upgrade and modernize the traditional jitneys in the country, the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said yesterday.
LTFRB Regional Director Zona Russet Tamayo assured the public, especially those in the National Capital Region (NCR), that there would be enough public utility vehicles (PUVs) plying different routes and ready to serve commuters.
Tamayo, in a briefing in Malacañang, said that based on LTFRB records, of the 42,642 PUJs that had existing franchises in 2023, 22,284 have registered their vehicles and are believed to be plying their routes or serving their service areas.
She added that of this figure, “21,655 registered units or 97.18 percent of those who registered for 2023 have filed for consolidation.”
PUJs that have yet to consolidate have until January 31, 2024 to ply their routes.
The LTFRB said that 76.6 percent of the total number of PUJs in the country have consolidated under different cooperatives.
Those who have consolidated have 28 months to complete upgrading and modernizing of their vehicles.
LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said PUJs that have consolidated under cooperatives would be issued stickers that would be displayed in their vehicles.
He said the LTFRB, in coordination with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the MMDA, would conduct random checks on PUJs to determine if they have the proper documentation to prove they are part of a consolidated entity.
Guadiz also said the LTFRB is not endorsing any vehicle manufacturer and is giving transport drivers and operators a free hand in choosing where to buy vehicles.
He said it is up to them to choose if they prefer the more affordable and locally-made jeeps priced at around P1.2 million to P1.3 million or the more expensive and imported vehicles that are priced at around P2.4 million.
Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) chairman Jesus Ferdinand dismissed fears the shift to modern and expensive jeeps could lead to a hike in minimum fares to P30, P40 or even P50. He said such a hike has no basis.
The government, in implementing the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), gave the PUJs until December 31 last to consolidate under transportation cooperatives that would enable them to purchase the modernized jitneys and secure loans to buy the jeepneys, among others.
Tamayo said sanctions may be imposed on drivers and operators who failed to register and failed to consolidate if they continue plying their routes starting February 1.
Tamayo said that based on the LTFRB route mapping, they do not expect any problems in terms of public transport, adding the agency has contingency plans in case challenges arise.
“Only a few, three percent or less than three percent of the registered PUJs had not consolidated, that’s for NCR,” Tamayo said.
She said most of the routes covered by the unconsolidated PUJs ply short distances which can be covered by the PUVs that have longer routes.
“We have coordinated with the MMDA as well as with different LGUs in case there would be a need. But right now, we’ve mapped out for NCR and we already determined that there will be sufficient supply (of vehicles),” Tamayo said.
Ortega said the Department of Transportation, in coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Program (TESDA), has programs such as the “Tsuper Iskolar” to assist drivers and operators affected by the PUVMP.
The “EnTSUPERneur” aims to help the affected drivers and operators to come up with alternative livelihoods by providing them the capital and capacity building on livelihood and entrepreneurship while the Tsuper Iskolar program aims to provide scholarships and livelihood training to drivers, operators and their families.
SC PETITION
Pasang Masda and other transport groups yesterday filed a petition for intervention before the Supreme Court opposing the plea for the issuance of an injunction by the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide to stop the implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program and franchise consolidation.
PISTON and allied transport groups sought the temporary injunction last December 28, citing, among others, the adverse impact on the income and livelihood of PUV operators, drivers and their families and commuters nationwide.
PISTON argued that the move is “oppressive, over-reaching and confiscatory” considering the damage it would bring to the livelihood of PUV operators and drivers.
The group also cited the prohibitive cost of the modern jeepney that will replace the traditional one from P1.4 to P1.7 million to P2.5 to P2.6 million.
Buy Pasang Masda chairperson Roberto “Obet” Martin said PISTON’s petition lacked merit.
“Basically, we are opposing their petition for TRO so as not to stop the PUV modernization plan of the government,” Martin said.
Martin also junked PISTON’s claim of a looming transport crisis once the PUV phaseout is fully implemented.
“I’ve been in the transport sector for five years and I don’t believe that there will be a transport crisis. Instead of a crisis, our income will likely improve along with the traffic flow. That supposed transport crisis, I can say, will not happen,” he said.
He also dismissed PISTON’s claim that modern jeepneys are overpriced, saying there are local suppliers selling their units from P1.5 to P1 million or even less.
He added their group is in talks with a supplier willing to provide PNS-compliant jeepneys at only P1.5 million.
“The choices are with the cooperative or corporation,” he said, adding that transport groups are allowed to keep traditional jeepneys as long as they are compliant with the Philippine National Standard.
The High Court has deferred ruling on PISTON’s plea for the issuance of a TRO.
In an order issued last December 28, three days before the December 31 deadline set by the government to transport groups to consolidate into cooperatives, the SC gave the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board 10 days to comment on the petition. — With Victor Reyes, Jocelyn Montemayor, and Ashzel Hachero
