Public transport should not be a source of livelihood, says DOTr exec

Driving a jeepney as a form of public transportation should no longer be a source of livelihood, an official of the Department of Transportation said on Wednesday.

According to a report by Joseph Morong in “24 Oras”, DOTr Asssistant Secretary Mark de Leon said those involved in public transportation should already be "financially capable."

"Mali po 'yung pagtingin na livelihood ang isang public transportation,” De Leon said at a news briefing in Malacañang.

This frame of mind, he said, has contributed to the traffic congestion on the country's roads.

“Ang number one na requirement diyan kaya kayo binigyan ng prangkisa ng LTFRB (Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board) is that the operator should be financially capable," he added.

"So mali talaga iyong ating pananaw before na nag-issue ng mga prangkisa.  individual operator, individual franchise, individual unit, individual driver. Anong nangyayari sa kalsada?” De Leon said.

Cash for old jeepneys

De Leon said an estimated 170,000 old jeepney units will have to be removed from the roads by 2020 by selling them to state-accredited scrapping companies as part of the government's modernization program.

He said each old jeepney may be sold for P20,000 to P30,000.

Under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program, passenger jeepneys 15 years and older will be replaced by environment friendly and fuel-efficient units, with an exit door on the side of the vehicle and a bigger body to accommodate more passengers.

The program is targeted to go in full swing by 2020 with the government extending P80,000 as subsidy to help operators and drivers fund their purchase of new units, priced between P1.6 million and P1.8 million.

“Binigyan kayo ng P80,000 ng gobyerno, subsidy, tapos papatakbuhin mo pa rin 'yung lumang unit? Binigyan ka na nga ng bagong unit ng gobyerno, [and yet] you’re running the old unit. Kailangan talaga natin tanggalin sa kalsada," De Leon told reporters in Malacañang.

De Leon added jeepney operators and drivers can form cooperatives to ensure financial viability of the operations after some transport groups said the modernization program will just bury them in debt.

"Kapag kayo ay isang registered cooperative mas madali kayong makakuha ng financing. Iyong bangko nababaan iyong risk noong bangko na magpautang sa inyo. Kasi iyong risk na hindi kayo makabayad ulit since individual kayo bumaba," he said.

"It [also] reduces competition. Iyong competition na iyon na sinasabi natin, that boils down to inefficiency. Nagkakarerahan sa kalsada, hindi ka assured, iyong operator na kikita ka. Pero kung cooperative na, at the end of the day iyong kita ng buong cooperative mapagpaparte-partehan ninyong mga drivers, mapagpapartehan ng mga operators." —Llanesca Panti and Virgil Lopez/NB, GMA News