PHILSTAR

By Jomel R. Paguian

TRANSPORT group Manibela claimed that some public utility jeepney drivers have been apprehended by authorities for not having consolidated franchises, despite new guidelines allowing them to operate until Jan. 31.

In an interview with BusinessWorld recently, Manibela president Mar Valbuena said some jeepney drivers who refused to apply for consolidation were apprehended by Land Transportation Office (LTO) enforcers, who allegedly informed that they could not ply their routes anymore.

“What the LTO enforcers do is they tell our members that they cannot operate starting the next day, force them to go home, leaving passengers no choice but to alight from the vehicles,” he said in Filipino.

The LTO did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the matter.

Under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), jeepney drivers and operators are mandated to merge their separate franchises into a cooperative or corporation by Dec. 31, 2023, to obtain franchises for modern public utility vehicle (PUV) units.

But while the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) decided to push through with the year-end deadline, unconsolidated PUVs were permitted to operate until Jan. 31 — a month-long grace period beyond the deadline.

Mr. Valbuena said the LTO did not follow the extension granted to them and instead insisted on apprehending some of their members.

“Status quo should be upheld. We should not be apprehended unless we violate traffic rules,” he said. “But they (LTO enforcers) question our legal entitlement despite an order allowing us to operate until the end of the month.”

Manibela said apart from Metro Manila, incidents of unjust apprehension were reported by their members in Isabela, Cebu, Bacolod, and Iloilo.

Meanwhile, another transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) argued that the proposal of some lawmakers to extend the deadline for franchise consolidation is “meaningless,” demanding a more inclusive program for a just transition in public transport.

PISTON communications officer Jan Atienza told BusinessWorld “franchise consolidation directly transfers public transport into the hands of big business owners and corporations. It contradicts the nature of public transport as a public service that should not be corporatized or privatized.”

Manibela earlier expressed the same stance on the issue, clarifying that they instead clamor for an extension of their franchises and provisional authorities to ply their units even without consolidating.

HOUSE PANEL TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED PUVMP ANOMALIES
THE HOUSE Committee on Transportation is set to start a probe into alleged anomalies in the implementation of the PUVMP, a lawmaker said on Sunday.

In a statement, transportation panel head Antipolo Rep. Romeo M. Acop said Speaker Martin G. Romualdez sought the investigation after reports of alleged instances of corruption and irregularities in the jeepney modernization campaign.

“We cannot allow corruption to take root in the implementation of the modernization program, he said. “If we are to proceed with the modernization of our PUVs, we must make sure there is not even a whiff of irregularity.”

The congressman said the panel could proceed with the probe under the rules of the House of Representatives even without a resolution or privilege speech.

Over the weekend, Mr. Romualdez called on the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to review its implementation of the PUVMP, which transport groups have opposed citing the risk of increasing the number of unemployed Filipinos.

“We are responding to the directive of Speaker Romualdez to investigate these very serious allegations,” Mr. Acop said. “We will get the consensus of members of the committee of so we can start our hearings by Wednesday. — with a report from John Victor D. Ordoñez

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