BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Expensive modern units. Stringent requirements and high interest loan rates. Unclear and inconsistent policies by the government. Unfit and corrupt officials running the transport cooperatives.
These are among the reasons the local transport operators support the senators to suspend the ongoing implementation of the unpopular public transport modernization program (PTMP), formerly called the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
Several transport operators, drivers, and local legislators in Iloilo City have also thrown their weight behind the suspension of the modernization program for the Department of Transportation and its attached agencies – the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) – to formulate more feasible solutions and ensure that support mechanisms are in place.
Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, the Iloilo City Council’s transportation committee chairperson, welcomed the senators’ proposal to suspend the program.
“The problem with this program is the dilly-dallying policies of our national government about public transport. We want the government to come up with final and definite policies on this program,” said Cabaluna.
The councilor expects the DOTr, LTFRB, and LTO to provide the stakeholders with “clear and definite” guidelines should the suspension be pushed through.
Senate President Francis Escudero said Tuesday he would seek the suspension of the PUV modernization program so the concerned agencies could provide solutions to the problems, including the high cost of modern units.
During the Senate Committee on Public Services hearing, Escudero said that Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, Sen. JV Ejercito, and committee chair Sen. Raffy Tulfo supported his proposal.
“Majority of the Senate supports the suspension of this modernization program,” he said.
Escudero had been opposing the PUVMP, citing the need to review the program to prevent the loss of the livelihood of jeepney drivers and operators.
For his part, Tulfo said he would file a resolution seeking to suspend the PUV modernization program, which aims to replace old jeepneys and other public utility vehicles with safer, more efficient, and environmentally friendly models.
For their part, several local transport operators also said told legislators of the harassment and abuses they endured by their transport officers in managing their cooperatives.
“There are numerous and rising significant reports and complaints on cooperatives happening in Iloilo City transport cooperatives, by the implementation, we will be at a disadvantageous situation,” the transport operators said.
They also lamented the corrupt practices and irregularities committed by several LTFRB-6 personnel, particularly in the conduct of route consolidation processes.
In particular, the transport operators called for a gradual rollout in the implementation of the modernization program to allow operators more time to comply and spread out the financial impact.
They also suggested implementing the program in selected areas to test and refine the process before full-scale implementation.
The transport operators and drivers also called for an “inclusive stakeholder consultation” such as conducting regular consultations with all stakeholders, including drivers, operators, commuters, and transport groups, to gather feedback and address concerns.
They said regular consultation is essential to ensure transparent communication about the program’s objectives, benefits, and requirements.
Given these concerns, various transport groups and stakeholders, the Iloilo City Council earlier passed a resolution urging the DOTr to suspend the PUV modernization program until more feasible and acceptable measures to all stakeholders are in place.
The measure, authored by Councilor Romel Duron, noted that five of 10 components of the programs were not seriously considered by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) during the planning stage.
These components include route rationalization, financing, support mechanism, consolidation, and the vehicle useful program.
The LTFRB in Western Visayas reported a 72.2 percent franchise consolidation rate.
In Iloilo City, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) approved 25 rationalized routes out of the original 35 routes before the approval of the LPTRP.
Out of 2,535 traditional jeepneys in the city, the DOTr authorized 1,782 modern jeepneys to ply these 25 approved rationalized routes comprising old and new routes.
The 1,782 approved units have been allocated to 14 transport cooperatives and two corporations.
The resolution noted that PUV modernization and route rationalization are “novel concepts.” However, the execution and implementation fell short of what the public expected.
“There is a need to study the route rationalization that would be responsible for the demands of the passengers and locations of the major movement and future demand, especially PUV units entering the City of Iloilo,” the resolution read.
The resolution also mentioned the costly procurement of modern units, high operational costs, and the high tariffs imposed on imported utility vehicles.
Several transport cooperatives are also mismanaged due to a lack of training on how to effectively manage a fleet system; hence the possibility of bankruptcy will likely happen.
“The government cannot implement the jeepney modernization program as a “one size fits all” solution across the country, given the different population number, income capacities, and failure to caution its abject miseries of displaced unconsolidated PUJs and provision of amelioration program to their dependents,” the resolution added.
Apart from the DOTr, the council also asked other agencies including the Office of the Transport Cooperative (OTC), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), other local government units, Congress, and Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez./PN
