Poe to LTFRB: What happened to talks with transport groups?

Senator Grace Poe | PHOTO: Senate PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe is wondering what happened to government regulators’ dialogue with transport groups while the public utility vehicle (PUV) consolidation deadline was extended.

In a statement, Poe urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to disclose its efforts to address concerns earlier raised by drivers and operators, who have been opposing the consolidation, which is part of the PUV modernization program.

“Have there been fruitful dialogues between the LTFRB and transport groups? Were there substantial efforts to reach out to the drivers and operators to help them get into the program? Were the apprehensions about the loans and other financial aspects of the program eased?” asked Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services.

READ: Take advantage of extended consolidation deadline, PUV drivers, operators urged

Poe said the PUV consolidation’s extended deadline is approaching, and expressed “hope that the LTFRB will release ahead of the deadline the list of routes with and without consolidated jeepneys.”

“We can’t just leave our commuters scampering for rides, especially under this extreme heat,” she added.

Poe likewise said she is looking forward to the Supreme Court (SC) releasing its “final verdict” on the “appeal of transport groups.”

In March, the transport group Bayyo Drivers and Operators Association asked the SC to reconsider dismissing their petition against the controversial PUV modernization program.

“With due respect to the Supreme Court, the fight is not yet over…. We will drown in debt if the PUV modernization program is implemented in its present form as we cannot afford to pay for a P2-million new jeepney unit,” Bayyo Association Inc. President Anselm Perweg said last month.

Early this year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. extended the PUV consolidation deadline to April 30, 2024, to allow drivers and operators intending to “consolidate” more time since they failed to meet the previous cut-off.

But on Wednesday, April 10, Marcos said this deadline will no longer be extended.

Consolidating PUV drivers and operators into one cooperative is the first step in the government’s PUV modernization program.