Transport groups threatened to stage a strike should the Senate halt the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
Roberto Martin of Pasang Masda, the group’s spokesperson, said the Senate’s plan to stop the consolidation program “is unacceptable,” citing “80 percent of all public utility vehicles have already consolidated into cooperatives or corporations.”
He said the Senate has taken for granted that 81.1 percent of the PUV industry has complied with the consolidated program.
Pasang Masda is a member of the Magnificent 7 group, also composed of the Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide, Alliance of Concerned Transport Organization, Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, Stop and Go, and Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators ng Pilipinas.
Senator Raffy Tulfo earlier said he would pass a resolution to suspend the transport modernization so the Senate could immediately pass it. Senate President Francis Escudero said no matter how hard the PUVMP drivers work, they would not be able to afford the required models of a new unit.
