House panel urges Marcos to extend grace period for unconsolidated jeepneys

The House Committee on Transportation on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to reconsider or extend the monthlong grace period that allows unconsolidated jeepneys to operate.

The committee came up with the resolution after it resumed its motu proprio investigation into the PUV Modernization Program on Wednesday morning.

Starting February 1, the LTFRB will consider unconsolidated jeepneys as “colorum” following the expiry of its memorandum allowing individual operators in routes without a consolidated transport service entity (TSE) to operate until January 31.

The PUV Modernization Program aims to replace traditional jeepneys with vehicles that have at least a Euro 4-compliant engine to lessen pollution and replace units that were not deemed roadworthy under the standards of the Land Transportation Office.

The consolidation of individual PUV franchises into cooperatives or corporations is the initial stage of the modernization program. This aims to pass the burden of acquiring modernized units from operators to the transport entity

In the previous House hearing, several groups of jeepney drivers opposed the program, saying they have lost their own jeepney units after their registration were transferred to transport cooperatives.

In the same hearing, it was learned that several routes have yet to be consolidated days before the Jan. 31 end to the grace period. —KBK, GMA Integrated News