Senator Joel Villanueva on Wednesday, April 15 welcomed the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for its decision not to make the use of GPS a compulsory requirement for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers participating in the service contracting program.

“We thank the DOTr for their openness to our call at the PROTECT Committee hearing last Monday and to the grievances of our compatriots in the transportation sector for the implementation of more humane and reasonable policies,” Villanueva said. 

“In the midst of a severe crisis where our countrymen desperately need help in the transport sector, let's not give them an additional burden,” he said.

Villanueva commended the DOTr for showing it can adopt a more flexible and responsive approach to ensure a smooth rollout of the program. 

“We will continue to extend our support to programs that will help ease the burden of our kababayans facing the realities of this oil crisis,” he said.

Before this, Villanueva strongly criticized the mandatory GPS requirement for jeepney drivers imposed by the DOTr, calling the policy as “illogical and burdensome.”

The senator questioned the necessity of requiring drivers to rent GPS devices when a similar function is available through mobile phones.

The agency proposed using GPS devices to track real-time locations of PUVs, which can be used as a basis for the service contracting payouts. But drivers will be required to rent GPS units at an estimated cost of ₱500 per month per unit.

The government has guaranteed to pay P30 to P100 per kilometer for participating PUVs, placing a cap at 100 kilometers per day.

“I can’t see the logic of renting GPS. Ano bang magagawa ng GPS na hindi magagawa ng cellphone natin ngayon?” Villanueva had said at the hearing of the Senate Committee on Proactive Response and Oversight for Timely and Effective Crisis Strategy (PROTECT), conducted to discuss government response to the oil crisis.

“They can just turn on the location services and we would know where they are. Why do we need a separate GPS gadget? Who’s the supplier of these?” he added.

Villanueva further said that the P500 amount that will come out of the pockets of jeepney drivers is significant, considering they barely earn for their family’s food.