INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has called on jeepney drivers and operators to consolidate or form transport cooperatives or corporations before the April 30 deadline set by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr..
“Again, I have to reiterate it’s only until April 30. We need to consolidate because that is the first part of the modernization program,” LTFRB chair Teofilo Guadiz III said in a statement on Tuesday.
According to Guadiz, the deadline extension granted by Mr. Marcos is the “last” for public utility vehicles (PUVs) that have yet to comply with the requirement.
“So we are asking now the jeepney operators to avail of the last extension because come April 30, we will no longer allow those who did not consolidate to ply [their] routes,” he said.
READ: Marcos extends PUV consolidation deadline by 3 months
READ: LTFRB: 80% of PUVs already consolidated
Guadiz added that the LTFRB would revoke the franchise of noncompliant PUVs following due process.
Heeding the clamor of transport groups, lawmakers and other sectors, Mr. Marcos agreed in January to extend the consolidation deadline for PUVs to the end of April from the previous Dec. 31, 2023.
The government’s PUV modernization program requires transport operators and drivers to form cooperatives or corporations to avail themselves of state subsidies and access credit facilities, among others, for modernizing their fleets and operating the modernized units systematically and predictably.
80-percent compliance rate
In early March, Guadiz said the consolidation rate stood at 80 percent nationwide.
Transport group Manibela, one of those opposed to the modernization program, earlier announced that it would be holding protests on April 15 and April 30.
“We think these [protests] will be bigger, wider and more will participate. There are already more [operators and drivers] whose consciousness have been awakened by the rotten PUVMP,” Manibela chair Mar Valbuena said in a radio interview last week.
Valbuena also lamented that the Supreme Court still has to rule on several petitions questioning the program’s validity.