ILOILO City — Desperate jeepney operators and drivers displaced by the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) see some glimmer of hope. Calls to suspend the PUVMP have surfaced in the Senate, following concerns raised about its implementation.
Other transport stakeholders, however, are anxious. They warned that the suspension could lead to the bankruptcy of transport cooperatives or corporations already mired in bank loans.
Senate President Francis Escudero, during the Senate Committee on Public Services hearing on Tuesday, July 23, prompted committee chair Sen. Raffy Tulfo to propose a resolution requesting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to halt the PUVMP temporarily.
The move came after notable discrepancies were highlighted during the program’s rollout, which has faced criticism for its impact on local transport groups.
Warren Gangoso, president of Manibela Panay United and the Villa Transport Association, welcomed the suspension proposal, citing negative experiences among members, some of whom have already left consolidated cooperatives or corporations due to unbearable conditions.
“Our request is for the government to refine the program because we have many negative experiences with it,” Gangoso told Panay News.
He clarified that while his group is not against the government’s transport modernization efforts, they seek a more robust and transparent system addressing cooperative-related financial and management issues before fully committing to the modernization drive.
Gangoso, attended the Senate committee hearing on July 23, cited as example the P500 daily dividend promised to operators should they join transport cooperatives as consolidated members; this has not been fulfilled.
But not all in the transport sector are happy with the Senate’s plan to call for PUVMP suspension. Raymundo Parcon, president of the Western Visayas Transport Cooperative (WVTC), voiced concerns about the financial implications of a suspension.
The WVTC, which has taken a P200-million loan from state-owned Landbank of the Philippines for 95 “mini bus” units (so-called “modernized jeepneys), fears the inability to sustain payments if the program is paused.
WVTC was given seven years to pay its loan.
“Suspending it (PUVMP) now, after we’ve complied with the government’s modernization initiative, is painful for us,” Parcon said.
WVTC is actually being allowed by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to operate 552 mini buses; what it has bought so far and are operational is just 17 percent of this.
“Modernization man bala, bag-uhon ang tanan. Ila gani slogan ‘Bagong Pilipinas’, modernize. Nagtuman kami sa programa nga modernization tapos gulpi nga kakason,” lamented Parcon.
During the same Senate committee hearing, Escudero criticized the modernization plan as ill-conceived, pointing out the financial burdens it imposes on operators and drivers, with a vehicle cost of P2.5 million each being unfeasible under current conditions.
He proposed a resolution to pause the PUVMP until all financial and operational concerns are thoroughly addressed.
But Rizalito Alido, president of the Western Visayas Federation of Transport Cooperative and Corporation, hopes for an exemption for Iloilo City from the suspension, citing a local ordinance that implements an enhanced Local Public Transport Route Plan.
The suspension could lead to the bankruptcy of transport cooperatives, he warned.
Alido, who also serves as consultant of the Iloilo City Alliance Operators and Drivers Transport Cooperative (ICAODTC), this group may be forced to seek subsidy from the government to pay its bank loan.
ICAODTC is operating 28 mini buses, costing P2.40 million each.
The PUV modernization program, which overhauls the franchising system for safer and more comfortable public transportation, has been met with resistance from several stakeholders in the transport sectors, citing financial and livelihood displacement.
Individual jeepney operators are required to give up their franchises in favor of consolidated transport cooperatives or corporations.
Despite these challenges, President Marcos previously assured that the modernization would not cost any driver their job or livelihood./PN
