Piston to LTFRB: Let drivers withdraw franchises after consolidation

Members of transport groups Piston and Manibela call on the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2024, to stop the government from implementing the modernization program for public utility vehicles which will see traditional jeepneys being replaced by minibuses. (File photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) should permit public utility vehicle (PUV) operators to fully withdraw their individual franchises after consolidating as part of the PUV modernization program.

This view is according to the transport group Piston, which trooped to the LTFRB’s office in Quezon City on Wednesday, urging the agency to allow disgruntled PUV operators to retract their franchises from cooperatives or corporations.

READ: Piston: Livelihood programs for drivers in PUVMP poorly implemented 

LTFRB’s Memorandum Circular (MC) 2024-001, which effectively implemented a new deadline of April 30 on franchise consolidation, also said that operators may withdraw their memberships in the cooperatives if they have not yet received a Certificate of Public Convenience.

But Piston National Deputy Secretary-General Ruben Baylon said in a statement that this provision is not enough.

“Full withdrawal should be allowed, even for those who have already been issued consolidated franchises, to give them the opportunity to disengage and restore their individual franchises,” Baylon was quoted as saying in Filipino.

Consolidation entails PUV operators combining their franchises into single entities, which could be cooperatives or corporations. Failure to do so before the new deadline will result in their being prohibited from operating on their routes.

In a phone interview with INQUIRER.net, Piston President Mody Floranda said that retracting individual franchises from cooperatives would eventually allow operators to ply their routes again.

However, he explained that if operators were allowed to withdraw, they would risk being barred from ferrying commuters when the deadline lapsed.

Despite this, Floranda said that they are still hoping that the Supreme Court will approve Piston’s petition for a Temporary Restraining Order against the PUV modernization program so that transport workers will no longer have to consolidate their franchises to ply their routes.

As the new deadline approaches, the transport group also urged the government anew to scrap the mandatory consolidation altogether.

READ: Piston to SC: Stop gov’t orders for jeepney upgrade, Dec 31 deadline  

Some PUV drivers and operators have been assailing the government’s PUV modernization program for supposedly being “confiscatory” and having detrimental effects on transport workers.

This is because the program seeks to replace traditional jeepneys with more expensive units, which will be shouldered by the operators.