The whole Philippines including Palawan and its capital, Puerto Princesa City, will soon comply with the national program on modernization of Public Utility Vehicles that includes jeepneys and multicabs and targets that by July 2020 all public transport should be new, safer, more comfortable and environment-friendly.
The modernization program implemented by the Department of Transportation will phase out PUVs 15 years and older from the roads. It wants to give comfort to the commuting public wherein specifications of the vehicle needing franchise from the Land Transportation and Franchising Board (LTFRB) have to be complied with.
PUV modernization was presented and discussed during the Transport Forum last October 23 at the Hotel Centro, wherein 17 transport cooperatives in the City were invited, along with the City Government represented by Councilor Elgen Damasco, Chairman of Committee on Transportation in the City Council, and Executive Assistant to the Mayor, Rod Saucelo.
Damasco, in his message, said that what the City needs is to have an office of LTFRB for its residents need to go to Lipa, Batangas in order to get their transport franchises. He said it is a pain in terms of distance and budget for a local operator to do.
Saucelo, on other hand, revealed that Mayor Lucilo Bayron already discussed the issue with LTFRB in June, and the agency just requested a free office space from the City to which the Mayor offered a space inside the City Coliseum. Since then the City Hall never heard from the LTFRB as to when it will start to operate.
DOTr Transportation Development Officer Eljohn Dionisio presented the must-know details and information about the modernization program.
As of last month, there are 3,019 modern PUVs operating in the country, and so far the income of those operators and drivers have doubled, Dionisio claimed, contrary to the issue raised by some sectors that it is not beneficial to the transport operators due to the high cost of owning a new PUV.
The Landbank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines also presented their financial schemes for drivers in order to have the modern units. The two banks offer 7-year financing options with only 6% interest per year. The government has an P80, 000-subsidy that can be a ILED of too.
The financing program is only applicable to accredited transport cooperatives by DOTr and LTFRB, and not for individual applications.
The City Government is not giving any subsidy to this yet. Saucelo said that there is no talks or formal request from any transport group in the City that wishes to have additional funding from the Local Government Unit.
Most of the transport groups’ representatives who attended registered no opposition to the program. They were, however, concerned with the scrapping of their old vehicles as recommended by DOTr.
Many multicabs and jeepneys that operate in the City are looking brand new, wherein some are barely two years old, and they are hoping that the DOTr will allow them to still use that in private use in case, and not to turn these into scrap materials. Dionisio said he will relay the concern to the national office.
Chairman Joel Bullos of Tagburos Transport Cooperative welcomes the modernization. He believes that majority of his members are capable of purchasing the new e-jeepneys with all the aids from the Government.
The said forum was organized by Black Hawk Auto Corporation, manufacturer of modern PUVs built and assembled in China, along with Komutr, aa automatic Fare Collection System App.
Richard Chen of Black Hawk, in his message, reiterated their advocacy in preserving Filipino heritage in their designs, and he believes that jeepneys are part of the Filipino culture that needs to be preserved.
Black Hawk’s starting price per unit of modern PUV is around P2.2 million, while the cashless Komutr app is free and easy to load. Using the app, the passengers need not pay the fare directly to the driver but they just need to book the ride on the app.
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