SENATE minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III yesterday said the Public Utility Jeepney Modernization Program should be suspended indefinitely until the kinks in the program have been ironed out.
In a Zoom interview with the media, Pimentel said the low acceptance rate of drivers and operators consolidating into cooperatives should be a signal for the government to indefinitely suspend the program since this will lead to dissatisfaction among drivers.
Once dissatisfied, he said a large number of the members of the transport industry may opt out of the sector to look for other jobs.
“There will be no peace and harmony in the transport sector. Cooperation is needed. If there is such a thing called industrial peace, there should also be peace and harmony in the transport sector, not only for the sake of the riding public but for the operators and drivers as well. If they feel that their efforts are not sufficient enough to feed their families, they will get out of the transport sector. Therefore, there will be a lesser supply of vehicles in our growing population which needs to be mobile, we need to move around for work, schooling and recreation. With this, there might be a shortage and the riding public will suffer,” he said.
He said the executive branch should put on hold the modernization program and “take advantage of the suspension to review the program.”
“The program has very low acceptability because it was not properly explained. But if they had explained it, maybe it was done inside an airconditioned room and they did not get the facts of the real lives of jeepney drivers and operators,” he said.
Pimentel recalled that during the budget season last year, authorities said only around 40 percent of transport groups in Metro Manila and more than 70 percent nationwide have consolidated into cooperatives.
“My point is do not force the program. It is not yet time. How can they pay their debts?” he said.
He said legislation for the modernization program should be in place so that concerned sectors, including the drivers and operators, can present their positions since it is apparent the PUVMP was solely conceptualized by “finance people.”
“It seems that this modernization program was thought of by finance people because it was packaged so that drivers and operators would incur debts, and the appearance of the jeepneys changed. That’s why we know that this did not come from the transport sector,” he said.
“A legislative process is better because they can tell their opinions and sentiments to their respective congressmen. That is more realistic unlike just implementing an Executive Order which ends up in Malacanang. How about the drivers and operators from Mindanao, how can they lobby before the President? But they can lobby before the members of Congress,” he said.
Aside from consolidating into cooperatives, Pimentel said another dilemma jeepney drivers and operators will have to face is the cost of buying the modern jeepneys, which reports said could reach up to more than P2 million per unit which will be payable in seven years.
He said another factor would be the uncontrollable increase in the prices of petroleum products.
“Definitely, this will affect transport fares because expenses to maintain the new system being proposed would be greater, although (traditional) jeepneys are iconic and already part of our culture, they will be phased out in favor of a ‘modern’ mode of transportation which looks like a minibus. Drivers and operators will spend, borrow money from the start,” Pimentel said.
To defray the cost of buying modern jeepneys, Pimentel said drivers and operators will have to ask for a fare increase.
