MANILA – Operators and drivers of non-consolidated public utility jeepneys (PUJs) will be given due process and will still be allowed to operate until January 2024, Department of Transportation (DOTr) – Office of Transportation Cooperatives chairperson Jesus Ferdinand Ortega said on Thursday, Dec. 28.
“Para lang maging klaro tayo, pagdating ng January, iyong mga hindi nag-consolidate, tuloy pa rin naman iyang bibiyahe dahil we will give them due process. May proseso po ang LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) na gagawin sa kanila, they will be given a chance to explain, they will be given a chance to process,” said Ortega during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing.
(To be clear, by January 2024, those who did not consolidate may continue operations because we will give them due process. The LTFRB has a process for them; they will be given a chance to explain, and they will be given a chance to process.)
Ortega said the process will take the entire month of January, but stressed that consolidation is still mandated.
Public utility vehicle (PUV) / transportation groups, Ortega said, are still going to the Office of Transportation Cooperatives to beat the Dec. 31, 2023 deadline for consolidation.
For its part, the Supreme Court (SC), has ordered the DOTr and the LTFRB to respond to the petition against the government’s PUV Modernization Program.
The DOTr and LTFRB were given 10 days to respond to the petition filed by the transport group Piston.
In its petition, Piston wants SC to issue a restraining order on the enforcement of the modernization plan that will begin on Dec. 31, 2023.
LGUs, DOTr Bracing for Possible Transport Strike
Local government units (LGUs), meanwhile, are preparing for a possible transport strike as the government rolls out the PUV Modernization Program.“Like what has been done before ‘no iyong sa mga tigil-pasada, iyong mga kaunting concern – magri-ready na po iyong ating mga LGUs kasi alam na po nila, alam na rin po ng LTFRB kung saang areas ang posible na magkakaproblema sa sasakyan. So, magri-ready na po tayo doon,” said Ortega.
(Like what has been done before, the LGUs are preparing for the transport strike because they know, the LTFRB also knows which areas could encounter problems.)
Various transport groups have protested the modernization program, citing additional costs that will eventually be shouldered by commuters.
Transport group Manibela is set to have a nationwide transport strike on Dec. 31. (Jean Mangaluz/Tetch Torres-Tupas © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
