TRADITIONAL JEEPNEYS. Traditional jeepneys stop at a pedestrian crossing in Kamuning Road near EDSA in Quezon City on May 15, 2024. Twenty-two senators on Wednesday (July 31, 2024) filed a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate to temporarily suspend the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) due to concerns about its unplanned and rushed implementation. (PNA photo by Joan Bondoc)
MANILA – Twenty-two senators on Wednesday filed a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate to temporarily suspend the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) due to concerns about its unplanned and rushed implementation.
Senate Resolution No. 1096 highlighted the fears of drivers and transport operators who will be directly affected by the program, particularly issues related to consolidation into cooperatives.
“There is an urgent need to thoroughly review and reassess the impact of the program, to alleviate the fears of the drivers and transport operators who will be directly burdened by its implementation,” the resolution read.
The senators underscored the need for more consideration and clarifications from the Department of Transportation to address the concerns raised by affected stakeholders, especially the drivers.
"While the intent of PTMP is laudable, continuing with the program without threshing out these concerns, would go against the Constitutional directive of promoting social justice in all phases of national development," the resolution added.
Senators also suggested that those who were already forced or volunteered to consolidate can still ply their usual routes while the review is ongoing.
A copy of SR 1096 sent to reporters by Senator Raffy Tulfo showed that Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros was not among the signatories.
In Iloilo City, the Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council) joined the call to review the PTMP due to the concerns of affected operators and drivers regarding its financial viability.
Councilor Romel Duron sponsored a resolution, which was also immediately adopted by the council, asking President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to review the program.
“The public utility vehicle modernization and the LPTRP (Local Public Transport Route Plan) are novel concepts but failed in execution and implementation. While this may apply to highly urbanized cities, but not to many cities or municipalities,” he said in his resolution.
He said the government cannot implement the program as a “one-size-fits-all solution across the country,” given the population, income capacities, and failure to caution the “abject miseries” of displaced non-consolidated public utility jeepneys and provision of amelioration to their dependents.
Iloilo City is the first highly urbanized city in the Philippines to implement an enhanced LPTRP, covering 25 routes composed of 17 rationalized and eight developmental routes. (PNA)
