• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Transport groups Undoc-Piston and Kabacod Negros Transport Organization/Coalition (KNETCO) are opposing the area-focused implementation of the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) being eyed by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and World Bank.
“While touted as meaningful changes, reforms pushed by the World Bank will undoubtedly only lead to further disenfranchisement of workers in the public transport sector in exchange of corporate takeover of an essential public service,” the groups said in a statement Oct. 20.
They claimed that the partnership between the World Bank and the DOTr is a “false reform” in the transport modernization program.
“It is but a new dressing to cover the old, rickety, and failed modernization program…(and) the united transport and commuters’ sector in Negros Island vehemently oppose the anti-commuter and anti-people program borne out of the World Bank-DOTr partnership,” the groups added.
Bacolod is one of the pilot cities of the area-focused PTMP implementation, which the DOTr and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) earlier claimed as a significant step toward transforming urban mobility.
LTFRB and World Bank executives earlier met with Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya and other city officials where the new model for the PTMP was presented.
“The initiative underscores the national government’s continuing commitment to advance transport modernization through strong partnerships with local governments—ensuring that cities, like Bacolod, are well-prepared for a future-ready public transportation system that is safer, more responsive, and aligned with the evolving needs of the riding public,” the LTFRB had said.
The presentation highlighted innovative approaches to accelerate the transition toward a more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable road-based public transport network in the Philippines, it added. | CGC
