Baguio transport groups file petition vs franchise, modernization program

BAGUIO CITY -- Transport groups led by the Baguio-Benguet Movement Against Jeepney Phaseout held a caravan April 30 to protest implementation of Dept. of Transportation order 2017-11, known as PUV Modernization Program. 

Calling for a “pro-people” modernization program, these groups also filed a petition with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Bureau (LTFRB) which outlined their alternatives to the government’s PUVMP.
    “We are doing this as part of our continuing campaign against economic insecurity that the present PUVMP will inevitably bring,” said Carlito Wayas, spokesperson of PISTON Metro Baguio.
    This was the first protest action done by the movement since the March 31 deadline for consolidation lapsed.

According to him, while some jeepney operators and drivers associations (JODAs) have continued with the consolidation, many are still reluctant to comply. 

“For us, consolidation means the loss of livelihood. The PUVMP mandates us to surrender our individual franchises and in turn take away our ownership of our jeepney units we painstakingly worked for,” he said.

He added losing ownership of their jeepneys was tantamount to losing their means of income. 

Under Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Bureau (LTFRB) guidelines, JODAs which fail to comply with consolidation will no longer be allowed to ply their routes. Wayas noted uidelines are forcing JODAs to push through with the consolidation. 

“This is why we ask that as we comply the consolidation, the LTFRB should keep their hands off our individual franchises and jeepney units to ensure that we have a livelihood to fall back on,” Wayas said.

The petition to be passed before the LTFRB also asked that JODAs be allowed to manage their own cooperatives under the Cooperative Development Authority guidelines. “This will foster a pro-people and participatory spirit of cooperativism between operators, drivers and commuters,” Wayas said. 

He added they were not against modernization considering JODAs are capable of rehabilitating their units into environmentally-sound and safe vehicles, provided there is government support, as opposed to the PUVMP’s anti-poor framework. 

“If there is appropriate and adequate subsidy from the government, we JODAs are perfectly capable of doing this without the entry of big cooperatives and foreign units,” he added. 

The movement earlier filed petitions before the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Baguio City and the Benguet Provincial Board, seeking their support against the PUVMP.

In a resolution July last year, the Benguet Provincial Board asked President Rodrigo Duterte to temporarily stop implementation of the PUVMP due to economic hardships brought by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“As the government continues to implement the PUVMP, we continue to explore and lobby alternatives that will work for all and will not leave us more economically disadvantaged,” Wayas said.