Transport franchise guidelines out on Monday

Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/John Paul R. Autor

CLARK FREEPORT — Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade saw no more snags and would sign the omnibus franchising guidelines today, saying this would usher in a “world-class public transport, ensure safety of commuters, and help clean the air.”

The guidelines will lead to the lifting of a moratorium on the issuance of new public transport franchises, Tugade also said.

“I will formally sign on June 19 the omnibus franchising guidelines. There shall be no more delay,” he said during the induction program of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Pampanga chapter on Friday.

“Public buses and jeeps would be at par with world-class standards as the guidelines would ban the use of diesel as fuel and engines that are more than 15 years old,” he said in Filipino.

Transport unions have opposed the guidelines, fearing the immediate phaseout of old jeepneys and buses.

Tugade said vehicles should be using Euro 4 and Euro 5 fuel emission standards as well as electric and solar energy, “or else, our environment would die together with our commuters.”

By August, drivers’ licenses would be valid for five years and transactions for their renewal would be done online for drivers who have not been cited for traffic violations, he said. The shortage of car plates would have been over by the second quarter of 2018, he added. —TONETTE OREJAS