500 routes to lose jeepneys — PISTON

MORE than 500 public utility vehicle (PUVs) routes are likely to lose jeepneys and other PUVs once the government bars unconsolidated transport vehicles from operating legally on Feb. 1, a transport group warned on Monday.

In a statement, the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) said the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) better to come up with alternatives to improve public transport as it bewailed how thousands of drivers are to lose their jobs due to the government’s PUV Modernization Program (PUVMP).

“It is not right that the government is pushing for this consolidation,” Mody T. Floranda, PISTON national president, said in Filipino. “It is more sensible to just scrap the program altogether and think of better ways to implement a more progressive public transport system.”

Based on LTFRB data as of Jan. 19, 395 jeepney routes and 108 UV Express routes in Metro Manila do not have consolidated units.

There are also 337 jeepney routes that have less than 60% consolidation in the capital region.

The deadline for consolidation was on Dec. 31, which would lead to the phaseout of jeepneys for more modern vehicles. A grace period that allows unconsolidated jeepneys to continue plying their routes will end on Jan. 31.

Earlier this month, the Department of Transportation and the LTFRB asked the Supreme Court to throw out petitions seeking to halt the government’s PUVMP, denying allegations of violating due process for PUV drivers.

“PISTON also urges the Supreme Court and legislators to immediately intervene and prevent this transport fiasco caused by (President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.) and his cohorts in the DoTr and the LTFRB,” the transport group said.