- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Public utility jeepneys with expired franchises/permits will be allowed to continue plying their routes in Bacolod City for two weeks, without fear that the units will be impounded and the drivers/operators fined by the Land Transportation Office.
“Ceasefire for two weeks…wala dakpanay,” Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran relayed the stopgap decision agreed on by the LTO and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, through the intercession of Mayor Alfredo Benitez, to the PUJ drivers and operators Nov. 8.
Members of several transport groups flocked to the Bacolod Government Center yesterday morning for a dialogue, after they stopped plying their routes Monday and for half-a-day Tuesday for fear that they will be arrested or fined by LTO personnel and deputized BTAO agents, who started checking the vehicle registration and permit of PUVs Nov. 7.
The “untat biyahe” led to stranded commuters, despite the vehicles dispatched by the city and a private company, the libreng sakay offered by barangays Taculing, Estefania, and Mansilingan, and several schools deciding to hold full online classes.
Familiaran told the drivers and operators that the PUV Modernization Program is a national law, and the city cannot circumvent it.
He said the LTO and LTFRB agreed to the two-week ceasefire, provided that the concerned drivers and operators start complying with the law, like becoming members of groups or cooperatives that are already compliant to the program.
The city said that within the two-week period, these drivers and operators should submit their papers and deeds of undertaking for consolidation, so the LTFRB could process and issue provisional authority to them.
We should follow the law first, then make our appeal, Familiaran said in Hiligaynon.
The complaining transport groups are asking for assistance and other considerations with regard the PUVMP implementation in Bacolod, claiming that it is costly to get modernized units and to consolidate or become members of a cooperative as per the law.
The PUVMP aims to replace old jeepneys and buses with new ones powered by more environment-friendly fuels, and equipped with a cashless payment system and GPS tracking device.
Of around 180,000 PUJs nationwide, 80 percent are 15 years old and above as per the LTFRB, and the program aims to modernize the current PUV fleet, reform and consolidate the transportation industry, move towards low emission PUVs, and improve the welfare of commuters, among others.
Its full-scale implementation after the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines, or DOTr Department Order 011, was released in 2017, has long been delayed due to protests from drivers and operators, and the coronavirus disease pandemic./CGC
