The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Tuesday committed to boost the equity subsidy of public utility drivers by another P100,000 to help the sector modernize their livelihood with the purchase of e-jeepneys as required in the PUV Modernization Program.
“We will increase the subsidy to P260,000 from P160,000 and we will help them borrow the money and they will pay it at a certain time as a cooperative,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista told reporters.
According to him, the DOTr will ask for a higher social support component of its annual budget in fiscal year 2024 to help the sector borrow money from state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines given that the PUVMP provides a subsidy of only P160,000.
PUV organizations across the country have declared a week-long transportation strike since Monday in protest of the PUVMP that requires members to group themselves into cooperatives or corporations to boost the likelihood of obtaining bank financing in addition to the promised equity subsidy for qualified members.
The PUVMP itself aims to provide a safer, more efficient, reliable, convenient, affordable, climate-friendly and environmentally sustainable transportation system and thus the need for PUV to modernize.
DOTr undersecretary for road sector, Mark Steven Pastor, said the agency also partnered with private banks to help PUV drivers modernize their vehicles.
“As early as 2017 we had the PASADA program in partnership with LANDBANK and DBP offering 5 percent interest for 7-year” loans, he said.
The Program Assistance to Support Alternative Driving Approaches (PASADA) financing program offers favorable terms responsive to the needs of transport corporations and cooperatives that allows for the smooth transition to modern public transport vehicles.
Under the PASADA Program, corporations or cooperatives registered with the Office of the Transport Cooperatives participating in the PUVMP, which have been awarded, or have been qualified to receive franchises from the Land Transportation Franchising Board (LTFR) are eligible to borrow money for fleet modernization purposes.
