BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – More than a month after the franchise consolidation lapsed, traditional jeepney operators in Western Visayas that formed themselves into transport cooperatives or corporations want “colorum” units removed from major thoroughfares.
Lawyer Salvador Altura Jr., officer-in-charge of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB-6) in Region 6, yesterday said that consolidated jeepney operators expect the colorum jeepney will be removed, or at least be eliminated on the road for their revenue to increase.
“If their operational revenues increase, the banks will consider extending those loans, which will allow them to procure modernized units,” Altura said during the “Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas” forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
In Iloilo City, about 1, 692 jeepneys were consolidated into cooperatives, or 75 percent, out of 2, 266 total traditional units, records from LTFRB-6 in Region 6 showed. Hence, there are more than 500 unconsolidated jeepneys plying the streets.
Some 2,625 traditional jeepneys in Western Visayas were not consolidated under the public transport modernization program (PTMP).
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.
During the forum, Altura stressed that deploying more modernized units on the road means improving the traffic situation on the road.
“But the way things are, the Iloilo City LPTRP implementation is under interesting circumstances,” said Altura. He was referring to the decision to allow 40 percent of the first-town jeepneys to enter the city loop during peak hours.
Altura emphasized that such a solution is merely temporary pending the approval of Iloilo Province’s route plan, adding the route plans of the two government units are intended to be “harmonious” for the smooth implementation of the two route plans.
“Although there are other issues regarding the units that have consolidated and unconsolidated, these are issues and policies that have to be clarified coming from a higher level,” said Altura.
As one of the 10 components of the modernization program, consolidation will now allow juridical entities such as these transport corporations and cooperatives access to fresh capital needed to buy modern jeepneys estimated at P2.8 million per unit.
State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) received P2.2 billion from the national budget during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The banks set the above funds as loan facilities for qualified transport entities as subsidies for “PUV owners when applying for loans to replace old public utility jeepneys with more efficient PUVs.”
Through consolidation, the LTFRB stressed that PUV units would be allocated equally to rationalized routes to prevent competition among drivers over the same route.
Under the program, drivers and operators are promised stable, sufficient, and dignified livelihoods while commuters get to their destinations quickly, safely, and comfortably./PN
