The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it has already made several adjustments to the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) even as the House of Representatives begins its motu propio investigation into the controversial program due to alleged corruption and irregularities on Wednesday.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, meanwhile, said the consolidation of PUV jeepney and bus operators and drivers into cooperatives is vital to ensure the efficiency of their operations.
Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, chairperson of the House committee on transportation, said he is securing the approval of the panel members to proceed with the probe after Speaker Martin Romualdez directed the panel to validate allegations of corruption in the PUVMP.
The PUVMP lays down the process for the mandatory consolidation ofindividual operators under transport cooperatives and corporations and the issuance of new franchises.
“We cannot allow corruption to take root in the implementation of the modernization program. If we are to proceed with the modernization of our PUVs, we must make sure there is not even a whiff of irregularity,” Acop added.
DOTr Undersecretary TJ Batan has pointing out how the government has already made several changes to the implementation of the program to address the concerns of jeepney operators and drivers who went on strike last month over the PUVMP, which set a Dec. 31 deadline for them to consolidate into cooperatives.
Batan said the Transportation department has already increased the government’s equity subsidy for acquiring modern jeepney units under the PUVMP from an initial P80,000 to P160,000 and later P280,000.
It also changed its guideline where only one operator could ply a certain route, increasing it to up to three operators, he added.
“Even the period or time to modernize the PUVs has changed. Before, you needed to modernize a jeepney within 12 months or one year, now we are looking at a two- to three-year allowance for consolidated operators to modernize,” Batan said.
According to Bautista, without consolidation, individual operations are inefficient without the standards of transport operations and safety.
“It’s important to consolidate now because we need to make [land public transport] operations more efficient. If we don’t consolidate, we will continue to operate the way we operate— each to his own, fighting in the streets, with no good standards of operation or safety,” Bautista said.
Bautista assured that the DOTr, along with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and Office for Transportation Cooperatives, will ensure the effectiveness of the PUVMP now that the deadline for consolidation expired last Dec. 31, 2023.
