Councilor Cuenco on PUJ return: Slowly but surely

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco described the rollout of the traditional public utility jeepneys (TPUJs) in the city as “slowly but surely.”

Cuenco, chairman of the city’s Jeepney Task Force, said there are at least 91 TPUJs granted with Balik Pasada Permits as of Tuesday, November 24.

These are jeepneys taking the Guadalupe, Lahug, Labangon, Mambaling, Basak, Pardo-Bulacao, Inayawan, and Talamban-Pit-os routes.

Based on data provided by Cuenco, the total number of TPUJ drivers with Balik Pasada ID is at 200, and 78 of these IDs were already claimed.

For the special permits, there are 104 issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for TPUJs within the city route.

“Some of those IDs have not been (claimed) sa mga drivers probably because they have to match the units that have been given permits. Ang jeepney drivers maoy i-assign sa mga sakyanan,” said Cuenco.

“The ratio is in one unit, there will be three jeepney drivers daw kuno nga magpuli-puli,” he said.

Cuenco said the mandatory COVID-19 testing was also done yesterday. At least 800 drivers were expected to have themselves tested.

In connection to the compliance of health protocols, the councilor said no violations were reported so far.

“As far as compliance is concerned, katong mga units nga nagdagan na karon sa atong kadalanan, the report from the field, so far, okay pa man daw. Wa pa may mga violations gyud.

So far, so good. Maayo ang ilang pagpatuman sa mga health protocols… Hapsay man ang padagan. You can see murag komportable pud ang ride because luag kaayo ang distance between the passengers,” said Cuenco.

“I’m crossing my fingers, sana magpadayon ni nga ingon ani ang sitwasyon and as you can see di pa man gyud grabe nga traffic ang gidulot aning mga jeepney units but understandably so because lagi dyutay pa man ang naka-rollout,” he said.

With the return of some jeepneys in the city streets, Cuenco said there is a “slight improvement” caused by this development.

“I wouldn’t say nga kuan gyud nga dako gyu’ng diperensya but ang natan-aw nato sa mga bus stops, mga jeepney stops, murag naminus minusan, maybe about 10 percent sa crowding, but hopefully as we go along nga mas madungagan pa ang mga units nga matagaan og permit. Hopefully maimprove pa na ang atong ratio sa mga commuting public nga gahuwat,” he said. — KQD (FREEMAN)