LTFRB exec urges public to patronize modern PUVs in Mindanao

Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente prepares for the cutting of the ribbon during the provincial launching of the public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP) held at the Provincial Capitol grounds on Friday, March 6, 2020. (Photo by JIGGER J. JERUSALEM / Inquirer Mindanao)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Philippines – With only a few months before the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP) goes full blast this June, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Northern Mindanao (LTFRB Region 10) on Friday, March 6,  urged the riding public to patronize the new fleet of PUVs now plying the national highway.

In Cagayan de Oro, 15 mini-buses belonging to the Oro Transport Service Cooperative began operating in January this year, ferrying passengers from Barangay Bugo here to Barangay Igpit, Opol town, Misamis Oriental and vice versa.

In June 2019, Donsals Express rolled out 15 airconditioned coasters that ply the Initao, Misamis Oriental-Cagayan de Oro route.

Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. (RTMI), one of the biggest bus operators in Mindanao which is owned and operated by the Yanson Group of Bus Companies, also introduced an initial 15 bus units for the Balingasag-Laguindingan route during the Misamis Oriental launch of the PUVMP held at the Provincial Capitol grounds on Friday.

Aminoden Guro, LTFRB Region 10 director, said it is high time for people to try the modernized PUVs that offer comfort and convenience to passengers.

“Our riding public should start to patronize these modernized PUVs as these will now be the country’s mode of mass transport in the coming months and years,” Guro said.

Guro has also reminded PUV operators who have yet to organize themselves into a corporation or cooperative to start the application process so they will not lose their franchises and their established routes.

“I am encouraging our transport groups to switch to PUVMP so they will not be left behind,” he said.

Although ordering a fleet of modernized PUVs may take some time due to the number of public utility jeepney units that will be replaced, Guro said operators must be ready once the new PUVs arrive from the manufacturers.

He said there are about 200,000 PUJ units that will be phased out by June this year, although he added the sheer volume of PUJs that will be replaced will mean the transition will not be that immediate.

Celer Estologa, RTMI media relations officer, said: “We are improving our services based on the mobility needs of the riding public, especially those passengers going to the Laguindingan Airport.”

RTMI’s decision to go into the intra-provincial route, Estologa said, was “in accord with the modernization program of the government to provide safe, comfortable, and modern fleet.”

For his part, Donald Rey Ellarina, Donsals Transport Corp. chief executive officer, assured the passengers that there would be no increase fare even as though the LTFRB had approved an increase, through a memorandum circular, of 20% of the base fare, for modernized PUVs.

“We want to continue providing better services to our passengers without implementing an increase,” Ellarina said.

According to him, commuters now prefer new and airconditioned PUVs over the older PUJs.

/atm