LTFRB offices open until New Year’s Eve to accommodate applications for consolidation, official says

All the physical offices of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) will be open to the public until New Year’s Eve on Sunday, Dec. 31, to accept last-minute applications for franchise consolidation from jeepney operators and drivers in compliance with the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).

In a press briefing on Friday, Dec. 29, LTFRB Board Member Mercy Jane Paras-Leynes said the Dec. 31 deadline for the industry consolidation component of the PUVMP shall remain despite facing backlash from stakeholders.

“Bukas po tayo bukas, Sabado, December 30, hanggang December 31 po na Linggo, alas 5 ng hapon. Ang lahat ng LTFRB offices po ay bukas para patuloy pong tumanggap ng application for consolidation. Kaya ine-encourage po namin ang lahat ng natitirang operators na sumali at mag-apply for consolidation bago ‘yung nakatakdang deadline (We are open tomorrow, Saturday, December 30, until December 31, Sunday, 5 p.m. All the LTFRB offices will be operational to accept application for consolidation. We encourage all the remaining operators to join and apply for consolidation before the scheduled deadline),” Leynes said.

“Ito pong December, nakita po natin na marami pa ring gustong sumali taliwas sa pinapakalat na mayroong mga ayaw sumali sa consolidation (This December, we have seen that a lot [of operators] are willing to join despite the propaganda being spread that there are some forces who are not willing to join the consolidation),” she said.

Jesus Ferdinand Ortega, chairman of Office of Transportation Cooperatives, said 101 jeepney drivers and operators have trooped to OTC to express interest in joining a transport cooperative as of Dec. 29, with some of them already applying for consolidation.

“This number for the month of December alone exceeds already ‘yong buong taon ng 2023 na mayroon lang kaming fully accredited na 65 kooperatiba (This number for the month of December alone exceeds already the [record for the] entire 2023 where we only fully accredited 65 cooperatives),” he said.

The industry consolidation is only one of the 10 components of the PUVMP, or the jeepney modernization program of the national government that is being implemented by the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

The other components include regulatory reform, local public transport route planning by the local government, route rationalization study, fleet modernization, financing PUV modernization, vehicle useful life program, pilot implementation, stakeholder support mechanism, and communication.

While it aims to improve the most basic form of transportation for ordinary Filipinos — the jeepneys, some drivers and operators lamented that they could not afford the modern jeepneys that would replace traditional jeepneys aged 15 years and older.

One modern jeepney equipped with Euro 4 electric engine, Global Positioning System (GPS) tracker, automated fare collection system, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera could amount to P1.4 million to P3 million, according to DOTr.

Some transport groups even conducted transport strikes to paralyze the sector and express dissent with the modernization program.

What happens then after the December 31 deadline and a jeepney operator or driver fails to apply for franchise consolidation?

Leynes said that if a route has more than 60 percent consolidation rate, the operators and drivers plying that same route but failed to consolidate their franchise will be issued a show cause order “as part of due process.”

For those plying a route with less than 60 percent to zero consolidation rate, Leynes said unconsolidated jeepneys will still be allowed to operate until Jan. 31, 2024 as they will be given a special permit prior to the cancellation of their franchise.

“Dito sa period within which pwedeng tumakbo ‘yung unconsolidated [jeepneys] sa dalawang ruta na binanggit ko, dito rin sila bibigyan ng show cause orders para bigyan sila ng due process ng Public Service Act para sa pagkansela ng kanilang prangkisa (The period within which the unconsolidated [jeepneys] can ply the two routes I’ve mentioned will also be the time where the operators and drivers will be issued with show cause orders as part of due process under the Public Service Act for the cancellation of their franchise),” Leynes said. — Martin Sadongdong

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