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Transport group Piston is preparing for a bigger nationwide protest against the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) before this month ends, its leader said Wednesday.

“We are preparing to stage a bigger protest before January ends. It will not just be conducted here in the National Capital Region but also in the whole country. Different kinds of protest will happen before this month ends,” Piston President Mody Floranda told dzBB.

Floranda said they considered the protest caravan they conducted with Manibela on Tuesday to be successful.

“We think that we were able to show the power of the drivers and operators to commuters during the protest yesterday and we were able to express our concerns to Malacanang,” he said.

Floranda claimed that the police blocked some of their members during their rally so they could not proceed to Mendiola.

“Actually, we didn’t block the way but we were the ones who were really blocked. The police blocked us…we arranged our jeepneys so that some could get through. We placed the others on the corners of the roads,” Floranda said over dzBB.

“We would like to apologize to the public. We didn’t like what happened yesterday. We tried to properly ask the police why we weren’t allowed to go straight to Mendiola,” he added.

Floranda said they are still open to having talks with government agencies about the modernization program but they are still against the consolidation requirement.

“What will happen to the livelihood of drivers and operators? If the goal of their modernization is to fix the public transport, why do we need to join corporations? Why do we need to replace our units? Why can’t it just be a rehabilitation program?” Floranda said.

“We think that they just want to monopolize the routes and monopolize the service,” he said.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said it would be issuing show cause orders before the month ends to operators who have not consolidated.

Office of Transportation Cooperatives Chairman Andy Ortega said the 30-day period would let the LTFRB give due process to those who did not comply with the December 31 deadline.

The LTFRB said that unconsolidated jeepney units that continue to ply on February 1 will be considered as colorum and will be apprehended. Jaspearl Tan/DMS