LTFRB-7 allows 1,750 PUJs to ply 14 Cebu City routes

CEBU, Philippines —  The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Central Visayas has allowed traditional jeepney units to ply the Cebu City roads while the coronavirus quarantine is still in effect.

At least 1,750 jeepneys were approved to operate in 14 routes in the city, but only until December of this year.

LTFRB-7 Regional Director Eduardo Montealto said his office has recommended to the Cebu City government only 35 percent of the total number of jeepneys plying in the city.

Around 5,000 traditional jeepneys operate in Cebu City.

LTFRB-7 and city government officials are set to meet on October 15 to discuss the former’s recommendation and the start of the operation.

“Mag decide pa kanus-a magsugod nga padaganon ang mga traditional jeepneys,” said Montealto. [We will still decide on when the traditional jeepneys will be allowed to ply the city streets.]

Montealto said though the city government may lobby for more jeepney units to return to their routes if it decides to allow 75 percent of the business establishments to reopen.

“So, kun i-open na unya ang 75 percent sa mga business establishments, 75 percent pud sa ilang mga empleyado kay mobalik na. Posible modaghan pud ang mga pasahero. Pero depende na sa  city government kung dungagan nila og abli ang mga ruta ug traditional jeepneys,” Montealto said. [If 75 percent of the business establishments in the city will be allowed to operate anew, then 75 percent of their employees will return to work. So the number of passengers is expected to increase. But it is up to the city government if it wants to open more routes for traditional jeepneys.

PUV Modernization

Meanwhile, Senator Imee Marcos, in a statement, said economic, logistical, and health considerations should prod the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to indefinitely put its public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program on hold and allow traditional jeepneys to resume operations.

 Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on economic reforms, said the COVID-19 pandemic has not only rendered most jeepney drivers jobless over the past seven months of community quarantine restrictions, but has now made it impossible for them to afford modernized jeepneys with Euro-4 capability that cost P1.4 million to P2.2  million each.

The DoTr’s subsidies of P80,000 to buy a modernized jeepney and an extra P5,000 for gas were clearly insufficient, Marcos said.

Marcos said the short supply of modernized jeepneys for less than five percent of about 170,000 jeepney drivers, the lack of social welfare benefits for them, and the unfinished rerouting plans of the LTFRB made a clear case to postpone the jeepney modernization program.

Instead of helping jeepney drivers amid the pandemic, Marcos said, the DoTr and LTFRB took advantage of the lockdown to push for the modernization program that, even before COVID-19, the poor drivers already could not afford.

But Montealto said PUJ Modernization “is a way to go as modern jeepneys are compliant with environmental laws, safe and comfortable to ride by the passengers.”

“Kaning mga traditional jeepneys nagsugod ni since 1944 pa ni. Dili pwede nga atong paantoson atong mga pasahero sa mga polluted na nga mga jeepneys. Comfortable sad ang mga pasahero sa modernized jeepneys,” he said.

Montealto said majority of the operators of the traditional jeepneys are supportive of the PUV Modernization.

In fact, he said majority of jeepney operators in Cebu have already shifted their operations to modernized jeepneys. - KQD (FREEMAN)