The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has agreed to ease some of the terms under which the non-negotiable mandate for transport operators and drivers to consolidate as cooperatives or corporations under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) has to happen as scheduled.
This developed on the second day of a transport strike declared by the transport group PISTON in continuing protests against the PUVMP, according to an official of the Department of Transportation.
Transportation undersecretary and spokesman Timothy John Batan on Friday said the LTFRB and PISTON agreed to less stringent terms to the consolidation.
“For now, unconsolidated operators only need to submit three documents. The latest OR-CR of their vehicle, the registration document of the cooperative they will join or form, and the attestation that they will join that cooperative,” Batan said/
Batan also said the LTFRB and Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) have extended their operating hours to accommodate PUV operators meeting the December 31 consolidation deadline.
At Thursday’s LTFRB and PISTON meeting, the opposing camps agreed to allow two or three transport cooperatives to travel on routes with a high volume of passengers, Batan said.
The LTFRB also issued a memorandum waiving the penalty for those who failed to meet the consolidation requirements from 2020 to 2022. The minimum number of units required to consolidate was cut to only 10 from 15, according to the transport official.
But Batan said the 31st December deadline for consolidation stands as announced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday.
“All of this is our response to the directive of the President who said we will not extend the deadline for consolidation on December 31. In this manner the welfare of the majority of us who want to benefit from this our program will not be delayed because of a few,” Batan said.
Allaying fears of a supposed transport crisis after the consolidation deadline lapses, Batan said the modernized jeepney mandate will be phased implemented over two to three years after consolidation.
The LTFRB has already prepared a procedure such as issuing a special permit to the consolidated operators of jeeps or buses “to ensure there will continue to be people running on our streets this January 1,” Batan said.
The LTFRB said 70 percent of PUV operators across the country have consolidated.
