The Senate has urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to postpone its planned phaseout of traditional jeepneys in the Philippines by June 30.
Senators unanimously adopted Resolution No. 44 strongly urging the LTFRB to suspend the planned phaseout pending the resolution of valid and urgent concerns raised by affected operators and drivers regarding the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
Authored and sponsored by Committee on Public Services chairperson Senator Grace Poe, the measure refers to the implementation of LTFRB’s memorandum circular giving traditional jeeps until June 30, 2023 to ply the roads should their operators fail to join or form a cooperative or corporation.
“The LTFRB should not coerce PUV operators into complying with their guidelines without addressing the sector’s concerns.”
“The LTFRB should not coerce PUV operators into complying with their guidelines without addressing the sector’s concerns, particularly on the high capital costs of acquiring modern jeepneys,” read the resolution, which cited concerns from transport groups.
“To continue with the phaseout without taking these concerns into consideration would run counter to the directive of the Constitution to promote social justice in all phases of national development,” it added.
Poe, who led numerous committee hearings on the PUVMP, also raised the lack of a route rationalization plan from the LTFRB, which is a prerequisite to determine the routes for modern jeeps.
“There is always a win-win solution.”
Further, bills have been filed in the Senate for a “just transition” for PUV modernization, and that these could address the flaws and concerns about the program, Poe noted.
“We are not against modernization. If anything, we want to make it easier to achieve. There is always a win-win solution,” the veteran legislator said in her speech.
“To enforce a deadline is not only insanity, but also inhumane,” the seasoned lawmaker, however, stressed.
All senators were made co-authors of Resolution No. 44.
