[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’Legitimate concerns’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=’custom’ color=’#0a0a0a’]
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
[/av_textblock]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=’custom’ color=’#0a0a0a’]
MORE THAN anything else, the nationwide jeepney strike yesterday aimed to make the government listen to the drivers’ legitimate concerns over the proposed phase out of jeepneys 15 years old and older. There is no need to rush the plan. Since the economic repercussions are gargantuan, the proposal must be thoroughly discussed and all the drivers’ concerns addressed coherently.
It’s worth noting that commuters, although inconvenienced for a day, were not complaining. That’s because they understood the drivers’ plight. After all, the jeepney has become the core of Philippine public transport and is mainly patronized by low- to middle-income passengers.
The proposal states that jeepneys 15 years and older will have to be replaced by electric jeepneys and Euro 4-compliant engines that are eco-friendly. Consequently, all public utility vehicles will be subjected to roadworthiness. This demands local drivers to replace jeepneys with fancy engines. Have these engines been tested for the Philippines’ geography and the 7-day-24-hour operation drivers have in the present? Advancing this scheme, the test for roadworthiness will be supervised by experts working for corporations to ensure that local drivers and operator fail, and ensue the phaseout.
Furthermore, requirements for local operators appear excessive and burdensome, according to drivers. Every franchise is required to have a minimum of 10 units, and will increase to 20 units by 2018, and 40 in 2019. The capital needed is enormous – P7 million for every 10 units. The proposal wants the drivers to shell out huge amounts of money to procure this modern alternative. But is the government willing to provide them a sense of security?
With these conditions, drivers say they have no other choice but to waive their rights to corporations that have the capacity for funding. Is the phaseout using modernization as an excuse for privatization?
We can’t blame jeepney drivers and operators from suspecting that the primary purpose of the phaseout is not an environmentalist cause for low-carbon and low-emission vehicles but the corporatization of transport. If true, this enables private firms to monopolize the transport industry, utilizing fleet management programs to fully control franchises, jeepneys and the profit.
Here’s the thing: Transportation, along with water, electricity, education, and housing among others, are basic needs the government must provide its citizens. Although consumers are willing to pay for basic utilities, public service should never become a business venture of insatiable profiteers.
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
