What will happen to the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) passenger utility jeepney (PUJ) modernization program now?
DOTr Undersecretary Mark Steven Pastor bared before the House Committee on Appropriations Tuesday, Sept. 13 that the agency's PUJ modernization program had zero funds allocated to it under the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP).
Minority member, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel asked Pastor as to the amount of funds set aside for the program during the panel's consideration of the DOTr’s proposed P167-billion budget under the NEP.
"For 2023 po the proposal was P778 million but it was not included in the National Expenditure Program to department," Pastor said.
"OK, so wala pala (so there's none)," said a surprised Manuel.
"Ibig sabihin, walang pondo for 2023 para sa tulong doon sa mga drivers natin na mag-modernize ng kanilang mga jeep (That means that there will be no funds in 2023 to help the drivers modernize their jeep)," said the militant lawmaker.
"Magandang tignan natin kung paano malalagyan. Kasi ayun, nakakagulat na wala pala, given nga na maraming mga jeepney drivers na kahit na gusto pa namang pumasada eh tumigil na (It'll be good to see how it will be funded. Because it's surprising that it doesn't have funds, given the glut of jeepney drivers who just stopped plying their routes)," he said.
Earlier, Manuel asked the DOTr panel how many modernized public utility vehicles (PUVs) there were on roads.
"As of today there are more or less 5,300 modern units and 300 electric vehicles plying the routes nationwide," Pastor said.
He said that these comprise only 5 to 10 percent of the total PUVs on the country.