Senatorial candidate Panfilo Lacson said jeepney drivers and operators must have enough leeway from the government to buy their own vehicles as part of the public transport modernization program.
At a meeting with jeepney drivers and operators organized by former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis Singson, Lacson suggested the government should provide just the standards and specifications for the vehicles they need to buy.
“It is better if the government sets the rules and guidelines, and then you choose where to buy your vehicles. This is better than the government forcing you to buy specific ones,” he said.
Lacson also repeated his earlier idea that jeepney drivers and operators should keep their own franchises instead of having to hand them over to a cooperative.
During the event, Pasang Masda president Roberto Martin told Lacson that they had “kotong-free” days when he was chief of the Philippine National Police from 1999 to 2001.
“We remember the time when police were extorting money from us, and that all stopped when Senator Ping Lacson was chief of PNP. He cleaned up the police force, and extortion disappeared,” Martin said.
“What he did as Chief of the PNP was an example not just for the transport sector but for the entire country,” he added. Lacson’s father, Buenaventura, was a jeepney driver and operator.