Starting Thursday, May 16, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will start running after operators and drivers of passenger jeepneys and other public utility vehicles (PUVs) who failed to comply with the government’s regulation of consolidating into cooperative or corporation as part of the PUV Modernization Program.
LTFRB chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said they have already sent out Show Cause Orders (SCOs) to almost all of the operators who failed to meet the April 30 final deadline for consolidation.
“We believe that we have already given them enough time not to insist on plying the routes if they failed to consolidate. So starting tomorrow (May 16), we will start flagging down PUVs and those who failed to consolidate are considered as colorum vehicles,” said Guadiz.
Those who would be apprehended, according to Guadiz, will be penalized with one year suspension of drivef’s license and P50,000 fine for colorum vehicles, aside from one-year impoundment of the vehicle.
Guadiz said they already asked transport operators who agreed to consolidate to post the first page of the document for consolidation on either the dashboard or the windshield in order to prevent inconvenience as enforcers would conduct random check in all routes.
Aside from the LTFRB personnel, the agency also coordinated with the Land Transportation Office, the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement units to implement the anti-colorum drive in relation to the PUV Modernization Program.
In an earlier press briefing, Guadiz said they expect the nationwide consolidation rate at 80 to 82 percent of PUV units—and more than 60 percent in Metro Manila.
This figure, according to Guadiz, is enough to prevent transportation crisis not only in Metro Manila but also in all parts of the country, particularly in urban areas.
In Metro Manila for instance, Guadiz has expressed confidence that there will be no shortage of passenger jeepneys since there are other modes of transportation that will cover the affected routes like metro trains, tricycles and even pedicabs.
The consolidation is the first phase of the PUV Modernization Program. With the final deadline ended on April 30, the national government is now shiting to the second phase which is the route consolidation and later to the modernization of fleet.
The unconsolidated
Citing their own data, Guadiz said there are around 30,000 passenger jeepneys that did not consolidate.
But a review of the same data, according to Guadiz, disclosed that around 20,000 of them have long failed to renew their franchise since the Convid-19 pandemic.
“So there are only around 10,000 passenger jeepneys that failed to consolidate. And this is nationwide,” said Guadiz.
That is the reason, according to Guadiz, why he has been wondering where defiant transport groups obtained their data that the PUV Modernization Program will affect 200,000 drivers and operators.
In Metro Manila for instance, Guadiz said there are around 1,900 passenger jeepneys which failed to meet the deadline for consolidation.
And that figure, according to him, is too small to even cause a slight transportation crisis.
Programs
Guadiz also disclosed that for those who already decided not to go back to the transport sector, especially those affected by the pandemic, the national government has been providing assistance and livelihood programs.
For assistance, he said the Technical Education And Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has already been tapped to give free education to the affected drivers.
“And while they are under study for new skills, they will be given allowances good for 90 days,” said Guadiz.
On the part of the livelihood assistance, he said the national government has facilitated a program that would provide capital to affected drivers to set up their own business.
And based on the initial data, those who availed of the program have already set up car repair shops.
The PUV Modernization program was pushed with the intention of improving the transportation system in the country—a system that also complies with the Philippines’ commitment to addres global warming.
But transport groups have been complaining that the PUV Modernization Program would result in the phaseout of the iconic jeeney and would adversely affect ordinary operator since a modern jeepney unit costs around P 2 million.
The defiant transport groups are now banking on Supreme Court intervention against the PUV Modernization Program implementation based on the petition it filed before the High Court.