PUJ / APRIL 13, 2024
Modern jeepney and traditional jeepneys pass along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City in this file photo taken on, April 13, 2024.
INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Friday said it set the deadline for the rationalization of public utility vehicle (PUV) routes by the end of 2026.
The DOTr and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) are currently working with local government units (LGUs) to rationalize PUV routes through the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP).
The LPTRP details the route network, mode and required number of PUVs per mode for delivering land transport service.
“Naglagay na po kami ng deadline, sa tulong ng LGUs and sa DILG Department of Interior and Local Government) … dapat lahat ay magtulong tulong and ma-produce ‘yung LPTRP with the deadline of end of 2026,” said DOTr Usec. for road transport and infrastructure Andy Ortega in a Senate committee on public services hearing.
(We have set a deadline, with the help of the LGUs and the DILG … everyone should help and produce the LPTRP with the deadline of the end of 2026.)
Ortega made the pronouncement after Senator Grace Poe questioned why only 12 percent of submitted route plans by LGUs have been approved by the LTFRB.
READ: Lawmaker hits LGU role in PUV route rationalization plan
This resulted in Senator Raffy Tulfo questioning why the DOTr strictly enforced the consolidation deadline on jeepney drivers, but had no specific deadline for the LPTRP.
He tagged it as potential “discrimination” against PUV drivers.
“So binibigyan ng deadline [‘yung drivers], pero walang deadline sa LGU at LTFRB pagdating sa route rationalization, ‘yun ‘yon eh. So nakikita ko may discrimination dito,” said Tulfo.
(So [the drivers] are given a deadline, but there is no deadline in the LGU and LTFRB when it comes to route rationalization, that’s it. So as I see it, there is discrimination here.)
But Ortega said the consolidation had nothing to do with the LPTRP, reiterating that the deadline for consolidation among PUVs had been extended several times before finally ending on April 30, 2024.
“Wala pong connection ‘yung consolidation sa route rationalization (consolidation has no connection with route rationalization),” Ortega responded.