Transport protests against the deadline for franchise consolidation and Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program will continue and could reach the courts, PISTON president Mody Floranda said Saturday.
Speaking to Teleradyo Serbisyo, Floranda said their group is considering questioning the order for the program before the Supreme Court.
“This modernization order is not a law, just an executive order (from the Department of Transportation and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board],” he said.
“Why are we being obliged to follow this modernization program when we know this should be voluntary and not absolute?” Floranda added, noting PISTON’s lawyers were studying the issue.
The DOTr previously dismissed warnings of a possible transport crisis if the government continues to stand firm on its Dec. 31 consolidation deadline for jeepney drivers under the PUVMP.
PISTON and fellow transport group Manibela announced another transport strike from Dec. 18 to 29 on Friday, the last day of the former’s two-day strike.
As of December, 70 percent of PUV drivers nationwide have complied with the consolidation requirement nationwide, according to Jesus Ferdinand Ortega, Chairperson of the DOTR-Office of Transportation Cooperatives.
Ortega said there are a number of options available to ensure that commuters in areas will not be inconvenienced come Jan. 1.
However, the number of jeepney drivers in Metro Manila that have yet to consolidate is still very high, a few days before the deadline, the official said.
President Marcos earlier rejected another extension of the yearend deadline for consolidation, noting that government “cannot let the minority cause further delays, affecting majority of our operators, banks, financial institutions and the public at large.”
The militant group Anakbayan, meanwhile, said instead of letting up, the LTFRB has only solidified the phaseout with its memorandum 2023-051, which says all unconsolidated PUVs will have their franchises revoked.
“It’s like (LTFRB chairman Teofilo) Guadiz was telling 140,000 jeepney drivers at 60,000 operators that they would die from hunger,” said Anakbayan National Spokesperson Kate Almenzo.
