Monday's transport strike will push through
Monday's transport strike by Piston and Manibela protesting the merging of operators with cooperatives under the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) will push through.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. previously announced there would no longer be any extension for the franchise consolidation after the April 30 deadline.
In an interview with dzBB, Piston National President Mody Floranda said the transport strike would be felt by commuters by 9 am.
He added some jeepneys would still ply their route before the start of the strike.
“What Piston and Manibela agreed on is that we will have an assembly at UP Avenue. From there, by 1 pm, will hold a caravan going to the office of the LTFRB. By 3 pm to 4 pm, we will head to Mendiola,” Floranda said.
The LTFRB previously announced it would be offering free rides to commuters during the strike.
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said it would not suspend the number coding scheme.
Floranda reiterated that they are not against the program’s PUV modernization program, but its franchise consolidation requirement.
“The problem is, for example, if we want to get a unit, we will pay for the unit and even if we have already paid for it, we cannot own it because it is under the name of the cooperative or the corporation,” he said over dzBB.
Floranda also argued that if the government really wanted to improve the public transportation system, it should support local manufacturers of modern jeepneys.
“Under the modernization, the PUVMP, we are not making our economy prosper but large businesses and large countries like Japan, China and the US who supply the country with mini-buses while they are killing local manufacturers,” Floranda said.
Floranda said that they have expressed these concerns to the LTFRB, the Department of Transportation (DoTr), and the Office of the President but they would always tell them that they are still studying them.
“It’s only now that they are saying that they are studying allowing local jeepney manufacturers…but the problem is, they haven’t even released an Executive Order on Philippine Standard Compliance,” Floranda said.
Meanwhile, Transportation Undersecretary Jesus Ferdinand Ortega has admitted that it would not reach 100 percent consolidation of franchise consolidation two weeks before its deadline due to various reasons.
“Some operators really don’t want to join (cooperatives or corporations) for whatever reason. Some say they want to retire from that business, so they will quit. Others say they want to have a different business like establishing a convenience store or grocery store. Others are telling the LTFRB chairman it’s too complicated to be part of cooperative or a corporation. They’re used to having one jeepney driver for each operator, so they don’t want to join. Then there are really some groups that for whatever reason will never agree,” Ortega said in a separate interview with dzBB.
According to Ortega, 78 percent of PUVs have consolidated their franchises in March, including jeepneys and UV Express, which he said was “more than enough”.
“We have gotten those who were really interested to consolidate. No one was left behind. When we announced to the President that the number of those that consolidated was a little above 70 percent, it was more than enough,” Ortega said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
