Displaced jeepney drivers stage protest in Bacolod ahead of Marcos’ SONA

BACOLOD, Philippines – Displaced as a result of the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program, some 243 jeepney operators and drivers protested in front of Bacolod City’s government center on Monday morning, July 15, urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to scrap the program.

The organized group of public vehicle operators and drivers took to the streets to deliver what they called their version of the SONA, a week before Marcos Jr. delivers his third annual address about the country’s state before Congress.

Protesters from the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center-Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Undoc-Piston) in Bacolod criticized the modernization program implemented by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) as a “dismal failure.”

“It didn’t work well, as many cooperatives are now lamenting their substantial losses,” said Noli Rosales, Undoc-Piston spokesman.

Rosales said the program brought “economic misery” to many PUV drivers and operators, and their families.

The group said the program has also resulted in a scarcity of PUVs on Bacolod’s streets, adversely affecting the city’s commuters.

Undoc-Piston said at least 1,700 of its members could no longer operate and drive jeepneys legally because the government no longer granted them provisional authority when they failed to consolidate into transport cooperatives after the May 30 deadline.

Rosales noted that some traditional jeepneys were still plying the streets, but their drivers were prone to apprehensions. Once apprehended, jeepney operators have to pay P50,000 per unit as a fine and endure a 30-day jeepney impoundment.

“We are calling on President Marcos to declare in his SONA the total scrapping of the PUVMP. It’s a bane for the transport sector,” Rosales said.

One of the cooperatives, the Bacolod Modernized Jeepney Transport Association (BMJTA), complained that its members have been suffering substantial losses because the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) failed to take action against those still operating and driving traditional jeepneys.

Rudy Catedral, president of the Bacolod Commuters, Operators, and Drivers Association-Federation of Drivers, Commuters, and United Transportation Terminals (Bacod-Manibela), said they were organizing bigger protests in time for Marcos’ SONA on June 22.

Catedral mentioned that around 10,000 of their dependents were suffering from the “negative economic impact” of the PUVMP.

He said the monthly amortization scheme for the modern jeepneys of at least P33,000 each was unaffordable for many.

“Even a cooperative cannot survive with this scheme,” Catedral said. “If the President can’t scrap the PUVMP, maybe he could amend the scheme and order program reviewed for a win-win solution.” – Rappler.com