Marcos extends jeepney consolidation to April 30, 2024

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the recommendation of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista to give unconsolidated jeepneys three more months to join or put up transportation cooperatives or corporations, the Presidential Communications Office said Wednesday.

"This extension is to give an opportunity to those who expressed intention to consolidate but did not make the previous cut-off," the PCO said in a statement.

The extension will be until April 30, 2024.

Earlier in the day, the House Committee on Transportation approved a resolution calling on the President to reconsider or extend the grace period for unconsolidated jeepneys to operate.

Data from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) showed that a total of 1,767 routes across the country have no consolidated public utility jeepney (PUJ) drivers and operators, according to a 24 Oras report on Friday.

Bicol has the highest number of routes with no consolidated PUJs at 451, followed by Metro Manila with 320.

Without the President's order, the LTFRB would have considered unconsolidated jeepneys as "colorum" starting Feb. 1. The LTFRB had issued a memorandum allowing individual operators in routes without a consolidated transport service entity (TSE) to operate until Jan. 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 (LTO).

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.

Several transport groups have launched a series of protest marches against the program, saying they have lost their own jeepney units after their vehicle registrations were transferred to transport cooperatives.

Transport groups have filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to stop the implementation of the PUV Modernization Program (PUVMP). They are asking the high tribunal to nullify relevant issuances of the LTRFB and the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the government from enforcing the policies. — VDV, GMA Integrated News