LTFRB: Offices open until 5 p.m. Dec. 31 to make way for consolidation applicants
The government on Friday clarified its decision to allow jeepney operators and drivers who failed to join the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) to operate beyond the Dec. 31 consolidation deadline, saying they would only be able to ply routes not adequately served by consolidated units.
Joel Bolano, chief of the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) technical division, said unconsolidated jeepneys in routes with at least 60 percent of units that consolidated would no longer be able to renew their provisional authorities to operate.
Only those in unconsolidated routes would be given special permits to operate until the end of January 2024, he added in a press briefing Friday.
“In routes with totally no consolidation, they have until Jan. 31 to operate pending the process of assigning units coming from other routes,” he said in Filipino.
Transport officials said there would be no extension of the deadline to apply for consolidation into either a cooperative or a corporation, the first step of the modernization program.
Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) chair Andy Ortega said offices of the OTC and LTFRB are open until 5 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2023 to accommodate those who would still avail of the consolidation.
“We still have three days so they can hit the deadline. I hope we can encourage them to consolidate with only three days left,” he added.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on Friday again said there would be no extension of the consolidation deadline.
Despite the strict deadline, however, the LTFRB gave a month’s leeway to individual operators to operate in routes without a consolidated transport service entity.
Meanwhile, leftist groups aired their support for drivers and operators who oppose the PUVMP and who have filed a petition before the Supreme Court to challenge its constitutionality.
On Friday, the youth group Anakbayan joined drivers and operators in their protest against the PUVMP at the Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City.
The youth group slammed the LTFRB circular allowing non-consolidated jeeps to operate until Jan. 31, 2024, on routes where there are only 60 percent or fewer consolidated jeeps.
The unconsolidated jeepneys will be allowed to operate until January 2024 but will still have their provisional authority or franchise revoked after Dec. 31, 2023. They will no longer be permitted to reapply or join cooperatives in the future.
The youth group said this is a tacit admission of the imminent transport crisis should the phaseout push through. The group said this runs contrary to the LTFRB claim that there will be no transport crisis after the franchise consolidation deadline.
The Gabriela Women’s Party also threw its support behind the nearly 200,000 jeepney drivers and operators as they face the looming Dec. 31 franchise consolidation deadline, which is part of the government’s PUVMP.
“The Dec. 31 deadline for the mandatory franchise consolidation forces over 60,000 jeepney operators to give up their franchises and join just a few transport cooperatives or companies,” said Gabriela’s nominee in Congress, Rep. Arlene Brosas.
“With significantly fewer PUVs on the roads by January 2024, millions of Filipino commuters will face a severe transport crisis, affecting important parts of the economy,” she said.
Brosas said the Dec. 31 deadline for franchise consolidation impedes the constitutionally protected freedom of association of jeepney drivers and operators.
“Drivers and operators are being pressured to join transport cooperatives or companies, disbanding their current jeepney associations and putting their livelihoods at risk,” Brosas said.
Gabriela appealed to President Marcos to heed the call of the thousands jeepney drivers and operators and set aside, if not scrap the franchise consolidation deadline to avert a massive transport crisis.
Some drivers on Friday told ABS-CBN they might skimp on the New Year feast to save money as they feared losing their livelihood due to the looming phaseout of their traditional jeepneys in 2024.
Alkris Sagado, a jeepney driver in Pasig for the last 10 years, said he did not know what would happen to his family if the government barred him from plying his route.
On a good day, he earns around P500, which he carefully budgets for their food, he said.
He urged the government to have pity on drivers like him, and not to deprive them of their livelihood.