By: Atty. Roland Collado
Transport strikes in Metro Manila are again creating collateral damage as the Public Transportation Modernization Program (PTMP) faces another year of changes and challenges under the newly reorganized DOTr.
Businesses suffer production and financial losses and consumer confidence is adversely affected.
Whether a strike is legal or Illegal, business is unusual and the riding public are directly affected, felt in the immediate and long term future.
The country’s economy is vulnerable at this point in time and striking season could harm the country’s investment reputation internationally.
Economists agree that the effect of strikes are difficult to calculate, particularly at this time when our country is currently experiencing political noise seen and heard elsewhere and everywhere.
This being said, our GDP growth will be affected and the economic consequences would inevitably lead to higher inflation with the middle and low income sectors seen to suffer the most.
As a mitigation measure, the newly-minted Secretary Department of Transportation (DOTr) Vince Dizon had expressed openness to some drastic changes in the government’s PTMP to address the concerns of transport groups.
DOTr
would be open to changes because clearly, there are some issues that need to be resolved, he said.
According to Dizon, some 86 percent of public utility vehicles (PUV) have already applied for consolidation but only 40 percent have been approved.
Dizon said he will discuss the matter with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and transport groups without delay. After these meetings, he said he will present “fast and doable solutions” in two weeks time.
Started in 2017, the country’s PTMP aims to replace jeepneys with modern vehicles,
units that are not deemed roadworthy.
These days, a modern jeepney unit costs over P2 million, an amount that even state-run banks LandBank and Development Bank of the Philippines said was too expensive for PUV drivers and operators.
The consolidation of individual PUV franchises into cooperatives or corporations is the initial stage of the modernization program.
Under the modernization program, unconsolidated units are considered colorum.
With hope against hope, this humble representation is suggesting the following guideposts as holistic approach in finding solutions to modernize our transport system:
Simplified Regulatory Reforms
Local Government Unit Capacity Building
Route Rationalization
Public Utility Jeepney (PUJ) Standard Specification
Industry Consolidation
Financing PUJ Modernization
End of Useful Life Program
Pilot Implementation
