FIRST SAY:
“Do not indoctrinate your children. Teach them how to think for themselves, how to evaluate evidence, and how to disagree with you.”
― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
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After months of trying to convince jeepney drivers and operators to consolidate, form cooperatives and upgrade their units to modern jeepneys that have a price tag of P2 million on average, explaining to them the sanctions that they would have to face if they reject the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP), the government is being asked by 22 senators to either delay or scrap the program.
While the group of militant transport workers led by PISTON is ecstatic, the consolidated operators and drivers, now members of transport cooperatives, are sad. This is understandable and expected, because these leftist-led jeepney drivers have spent a big part of the first half of 2024 fighting for their right to a livelihood, launching strikes and protest actions, even filing cases in court. Cases that take an eternity to process under our judicial system.
Now, the organization of PTMP believers, law-abiding businessmen, and those scared to lose their sources of livelihood is unhappy enough to plan similar strikes and protests—in case the government gives in to the wishes of the senators.
Either way, our officials (both the Duterte and Marcos administrations) have created a serious and massive problem where there is none.
We have mentioned this before, and we say it again: there should be consistency of government policy, since policies are studied well and vetted by supposed experts before they are implemented. Consistency is the key, even if there is a change of administration.
The PTMP is not a program that just fell down from a coconut tree, as Kamala Harris would say. It was proposed officially by the DOTr and even opened itself to scrutiny by the Senate and the House of Representatives. It was deemed proper to accept and implement, but the modernization of land transportation is focused on commuter safety and comfort. The riding public would want that, even demand it.
Under the PTMP, jeepney units that are 15 years old will be replaced with Euro 4 engines or electrically-powered engines with solar panel roofing.
Proponents of the program seek to transform the road transportation system by addressing vehicle safety and quality, route network efficiency, and fleet management while providing commuters with a modern public utility vehicle that is comfortable, accessible, safe and affordable.
If it has flaws and faults, as the senators say now, they and other officials who have the power to do so should have nipped it in the bud early on, not when the transport sector has already invested millions of pesos in the change to modernized public utility vehicles.
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It is well and good that the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) have assured all drivers and operators who have consolidated into cooperatives that the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) will continue despite a Senate resolution seeking to temporarily suspend its implementation.
In a statement, DOTr said it would push through with the nationwide modernization, citing the fact that the majority of the transport sector has signed up under the program.
Transportation Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Jesus Ferdinand Ortega said the agency will enforce the directive of President Marcos Jr. to proceed with the PTMP after the deadline for consolidation lapsed last April 30.
Meanwhile, the LTFRB said the PTMP will proceed in the absence of an official directive from the President and DOTr to suspend the program.
“We assure the drivers, operators, and stakeholders who participated in the PTMP that it will proceed as long as there is no directive coming from the President and the Department of Transportation to halt the program,” LTFR Chairman Teofilo Guadiz said.
Guadiz added that the LTFRB respects the Senate resolution calling for the program’s temporary suspension based on the urgent concerns raised by some drivers and transport groups.
He pointed out, however, that the PTMP is the government’s response to the aggravating transport-related problems, adding the agency remains committed to providing safe and efficient service to the riding public and a better transport sector.
The LTFRB has also issued an order allowing jeepneys and Utility Vehicles to operate in some areas with less than 15 authorized units to ensure enough supply of public transportation. The agency said the low number of authorized units in some routes prompted it to allow unconsolidated jeepneys and UV express units to operate.
Under Board Resolution No. 53, the LTFRB recognized that the minimum requirement of units in particular routes has restricted jeepney and UV express operators from applying for consolidation and participating in the PTMP.
To ensure enough public transport in routes with low authorized units, the LTFRB allowed unconsolidated units to operate without filing for consolidation. However, they need to be approved by the Local Public Transport Route Plan or the Route Rationalization Plan.
In its previous issuances, the LTFRB allowed the filing of an application for consolidation with less than 15 units if the existing NAU in the route is below 15.
The number of units allowed for consolidation shall cover the existing NAU in the said route. It likewise allowed the acceptance of an application for consolidation involving less than 15 units but not lower than 10 units provided that the applicant executes an Affidavit of Undertaking to complete the remaining units within three months from the date of filing.
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