- CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Land Transportation Office in Western Visayas will install checkpoints in strategic areas of Bacolod City Nov. 7 to check the vehicle registration and permit of public utility vehicles, the City said through the Bacolod Information Office.
“This has reference to Department of Transportation (DOTr) Department Order 2017-011,” the PIO notice said.
DO 2017-011, or the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines, is in line with the government’s PUV Modernization Program that 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.
In its PUV Modernization Program briefer, the DOTr noted that, of around 180,000 PUJs nationwide, 80 percent are 15 years old and above as per the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.
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.
Diego Malacad, secretary general of the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center, meanwhile, said in an interview over RMN DYHB Bacolod Nov. 6 that their members will continue with their operations despite the reported transport strike from other groups.
Unless there’s harassment from LTO and LTFRB personnel, we will not halt operations, Malacad said in the local dialect.
He recalled that Mayor Alfredo Benitez had assured them in September that he will help raise their concern with the DOTr on the fact that 99 percent of the more than 3,500 PUJs in Bacolod are unregistered because of the modernization program.
This as the number of modernized and air-conditioned jeepneys has been increasing in Bacolod.
The full-scale implementation of the PUV modernization program has long been delayed due to protests from drivers and operators, and the coronavirus disease pandemic.
This year, the DOTr has revived the program despite the zero allocation for the PUVMP under the agency’s proposed P167 billion budget for 2023./CGC
