Another strike set vs PUV modernization

Inquirer file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Around 90,000 members of transport groups Piston and Manibela will again stop plying their routes in Metro Manila and other parts of the country on Monday and Tuesday to show their continuing opposition to the government’s Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP).

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), however, earlier urged members of the two groups to consider joining the program as it announced plans to reopen the consolidation process for those who failed to beat the April 30 deadline. Under consolidation, public transport drivers and operators must join or form cooperatives to avail themselves of the program’s benefits.

READ: LTFRB to offer free rides during Sept 23-24 transport strike

At the same time, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) assured the public that, as in previous strikes, there would be no stranded passengers. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority also said its rescue vehicles would be on standby for deployment “if and when necessary.”

‘Colorum’ vehicles

Among the demands aired by Piston and Manibela were the cancellation of the consolidation requirement for joining the PTMP and the five-year renewal of franchises and registrations for all public utility vehicle (PUV) operators.

READ: LIST: Some schools shift to online classes due to transport strike

Manibela national chair Mar Valbuena said the group’s unconsolidated members were being forced to ply their routes clandestinely since they were being targeted by traffic enforcers.

The government had warned that after the April 30 deadline, unconsolidated PUVs would be considered “colorum” or illegal.

Of the 191,730 PUVs nationwide, a total of 159,682, or 83.38 percent, have been consolidated under the PTMP after the April 30 deadline. A total of 1,781 cooperatives with 262,870 members have also been accredited by the Office of Transport Cooperatives.

Reopening application

For the over 30,000 unconsolidated PUVs, the LTFRB has urged them to join the PTMP as it plans to reopen the application process for consolidation for two months, following a meeting between DOTr officials and Senate President Francis Escudero.

“The apprehension of the senators is that those who failed to consolidate would be left behind and lose their livelihood. But the concession we have arrived at is that we will reopen the application for consolidation… [However], they cannot form a new cooperative anymore and they will be asked to join existing cooperatives,” LTFRB Chair Teofilo Guadiz III said on Sept. 20.