BALANGA CITY – The transport group Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator na Tutol sa Phaseout or STOP trooped to the Senate today to submit their petition calling for a halt to the PUV phaseout which is set on December 31, the deadline for associations to transform into cooperatives.
The PUV phaseout will also result in the cancellation of individual franchises paving the way for prototype vehicles that are reportedly 400% more expensive than their present units.
The group said that as a cooperative, they will be required to comply with P300,000 share capital as well as putting out P7 Million capitalization per cooperative.
According to STOP, pushing the phaseout while under the pandemic violates the government’s COVID guidelines as Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (BARO) prohibits any phaseout of public vehicles transitioning to a new normal and any law or directive must be repealed to be consistent with BARO.
For small operators and drivers, they added, the DOTr-LTFRB PUV Modernization Plan will ruin them, “worse than the pandemic.” Lack of aid has reduced some of their members to begging in the streets or end up living in their jeepneys since most of them were already turned away from their homes for unable to pay the rent.
Since then, as the government lockdowns were strictly enforced only a small number has been allowed to ply their trade and their income has only been 1/10 or 1/15th of their take home prior to the pandemic.
STOP plans to set talks with other legislators as well as receptive local government units in an effort to push back against the phaseout that will directly impact 1.2 million people and indirectly impact 3.2 Million people from support industries.
The action in Senate coincided with coordinated motorcade and noise barrages in other provinces like Bataan and Pampanga.
STOP adds that by compelling the use of prototype vehicles, small operators and drivers will be saddled with debts that will surely drive transport fares higher.
Sidelining jeeps will result in a transport standstill as other transportation options cannot fill in the vacuum of taking out jeepneys in the public transportation sector, they added.
“Rather than killing off government’s reliable partner, the Duterte government through its agencies DOTr and LTFRB should focus on providing commuters accessible, affordable and practical transportation options, especially under a pandemic,” the group reiterated.
“No to Phase-out! Public transport, ibalik bilang public service,” the group shouted.