DOTr: PUVMP now on route rationalization stage

The Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) has proceeded to the route rationalization stage after 83% of PUVs have complied in the consolidation process, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Friday.

Interviewed on Unang Balita, DOTr Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Andy Ortega said the PUVMP will continue despite opposition from two transport groups.

“Ngayon, nasa next stage tayo, yung route rationalization. Pinapaganda po, inaayos po natin. Usapin with LGUs (local government units) para malaman natin kung gaano karami ang sasakyan para huwag sobra, huwag kulang,” he said.

(Now, we are in the next stage which is route rationalization. We are improving and fixing it. We are in discussion with LGUs to determine how many PUVs are there so the numbers are not excessive or insufficient.)

He said the state will last for about two years.

The DOTr is also conducting capacity building of PUV cooperatives through seminars on management, financial management, labor laws, and road discipline, according to Ortega.

After this, Ortega said PUV units will be modernized albeit this will take a few years to be fully realized. 

The consolidation of individual PUV franchises into cooperatives or corporations is the initial stage of the PUVMP, now called the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP).

Started in 2017, the PUVMP aims to replace jeepneys with vehicles that have at least a Euro 4-compliant engine to lessen pollution. It also aims to replace units that are no longer considered roadworthy.

A modern jeepney unit costs over P2 million, an amount that even state-run banks LandBank and Development Bank of the Philippines said was too expensive for PUV drivers and operators.

Around 81.11% or 155,513 of 191,730 PUV units have been consolidated into cooperatives or corporations after the April 30 deadline as of May, the DOTr said. A total of 36,217 PUVs remained unconsolidated.

For routes, 74.32% or 7,077 of 9,522 have been consolidated while 2,445 routes remained unconsolidated, the DOTr said.

Initially, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) had said that PUVs that did not consolidate after the April 30 deadline would be deemed as “colorum” or a PUV operating without a franchise.

However, LTFRB has allowed unconsolidated jeepneys and UV Express to operate in over 2,500 routes with a low number of consolidations.

Transport group Manibela will stage a transport strike from August 14 to 16 after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. rejected the Senate resolution for the suspension of the PUVMP.

Proposed Senate Resolution 1096, signed by 22 of the 23 senators, urged the government to temporarily suspend the implementation of the transport modernization program.

The lawmakers cited concerns on the high number of unconsolidated PUV units, phaseout of the iconic jeepney design "in favor of so-called modern jeepneys," low percentage of approved routes, among others. —KBK, GMA Integrated News