The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has extended the deadline for traditional jeepney drivers and operators to consolidate into a cooperative or corporation amid the planned weeklong transport strike that stemmed from the memorandum circular released by the agency.
From the original June 30, 2023 deadline a stipulated in the Memorandum Circular 2023-013, LTFRB chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III said they decided to extend it until Dec. 31 this year.
“We would like to inform the public that in compliance with the advice of our (Department of Transportation) Secretary Jaime Bautista and in response to the statement of President ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr., we are extending the consolidation of the modern jeepneys from June 30 to the end of December 2023,” said Guadiz in a press briefing.
Based on the circular signed and released by the LTFRB Board last month, the Provisional Authority given to the operators and drivers of traditional jeepneys will only be extended until Dec. 31 this year if they were able to join or set up cooperative and corporation for the replacement of their unit to modern jeepneys on or before June 30.
This raised a howl among the transport groups as they argued that the period is too short for them to comply with all the requirements.
For transport group Manibela chairman Mar Valbuena, this means that a number of traditional jeepneys will be impounded after the June 30 deadline, adding that to retrieve an impounded vehicle costs around P50,000.
This also spells out joblessness and denial of source of income to a number of drivers and operators of traditional jeepneys.
Based on the LTFRB data, only 60 percent of the target for the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization have complied with the requirements of the LTFRB.
The agreement is that there should 95 percent compliance for the target PUV Modernization.
As a result, various transport groups agreed to launch a weeklong transport strike from march 6 to 12.
But Guadiz said the LTFRB decision was not a result of the pressure from the weeklong transport strike.
“There is no pressure on us, more than 90 percent of transport groups have signified support but due to Senate resolution and based on the request of the DOTR, we will be extending the deadline to allow the transport sector time to consolidate,” said Guadiz.
The LTRFB officials met with some leaders of the transport groups on Wednesday, March 1.
New Memo
Guadiz said they will be issuing a new memorandum circular that will supersede the LTFRB Memorandum 2023—013 in the coming days—the content of which basically extends the deadline for the consolidation.
But he said the concerns raised by the transport groups will also be considered in their discussion.
President Marcos earlier said the PUV Modernization is inevitable but expressed apprehension on the timeliness of its immediate implementation.
The President’s statement appeared to have become a cue for LTFRB to extend the deadline.
Guadiz said part of those that will be considered are the concerns of the transport groups that they should not be compelled to join existing cooperatives and corporations, and that they should be allowed to put up their own.