Strike ends as admin agrees to study revision of PUV program

MANILA, Philippines — Jeepney and UV Express operators ended their planned week-long transport strike against the phaseout of traditional public utility vehicles after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. agreed to study the revision of the highly controversial PUV modernization program.

Manibela president Mar Valbuena announced this on Tuesday night, alongside Piston president Mody Floranda after their dialogue with Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil at Office of the Executive Secretary Undersecretary Roy Cervantes.

“[T]o start the discourse, our group decided to suspend the transport strike alongside Piston and go back to servicing commuters starting [Wednesday],” said Valbuena on Tuesday night in Filipino.

“We will hold President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr to his word, that his administration is open to study and revise the implementation of the PUV modernization program to keep the livelihood of our PUV drivers and operators,” he added.

Valbuena referred to their call to fully suspend the implementation of the Department of Transportation’s Department Order 2017-011 which defines the rules and requirements of the PUVMP, alongside and LTFRB Memorandum Circular 2023-013.

The policy is ordering individual operators of traditional jeepneys to stop operations should they fail to join a cooperative by Dec. 31, 2023, a deadline which was extended after the announcement of the strike. Joining said entities will supposedly enable them to purchase “modernized jeeps” or minibuses — vehicles that drivers and operators claimed to be too expensive at over P2 million each.

Marcos earlier said that modernizing jeepneys is necessary. However, he stressed that its current form is “not good” and that the implementation must be changed so as not to further burden the transport groups.

“Our group Manibela is at one with the aim of the government to provide a proper, comfortable and safe transportation to the public. We are not going against the planned modernization of the vehicles, we just wish that we do it humanely and justly so that no one gets left behind,” Valbuena said.

“We would like to apologize to the riding public due to the transport strike, but we had to do it so that our voices and plights could be heard. We thank you for understanding. To our comrades, do not fret. We will make sure that the ‘king of the road’ will stay even with development and change,” he added. Thorough consultations to be held

The government thanked Manibela in halting the transport strike while it ordered the DOTR and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to revisit their guidelines. —