Mang Rodolfo, a jeepney driver for 20 years, prepares to ply his route on the Pasig-Taguig area on January 3, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA (UPDATED) — Transport groups Manibela and PISTON on Thursday announced a transport strike that will start on Monday, April 15, to protest the looming deadline for the consolidation of franchises under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board have said the April 30 deadline to join transport cooperatives cannot be extended further.

Franchise consolidation is meant to lead the way to the eventual replacement of traditional jeepneys with newer minibuses.

“Hindi namin afford yung sinasabi ninyong consolidation. Hindi namin afford yung sinasabi ninyong modern na minibus,” Manibela president Mar Valbuena said at a press conference.

(We cannot afford consolidation. We cannot afford these modern minibuses.)

Some transport groups have opposed the program because of the cost of the units and of the requirements of registering and running a transport cooperative.

They said the program will run single-unit operators off the road.

He said that commuters still patronize the traditional jeepneys because they are convenient and the fares are affordable.

“Yung mga nananawagan na i-modernize  itong mga traditional jeepney na matibay, maayos at gawang Pinoy… kayong mga nagre-reklamo, hindi naman kayo nagko-commute,” Valbuena said.

(Those calling to modernize the traditional jeepneys that are well-made, run well and are locally made… Those who are complaining about jeepneys are not the ones who commute.)

SUPREME COURT PETITION STILL PENDING

PISTON said that the deadline should be set aside while a petition against the PUVMP is pending at the Supreme Court. 

“Hindi pa natatapos ang mga serye ng hearing ng PUVMP sa Kamara at nakabinbin pa rin ang petisyon namin sa Korte Suprema laban dito pero minamadali na ng rehimen ang pang-aagaw ng hanapbuhay ng mga tsuper at maliliit na operator,” PISTON Deputy Secretary-General Ruben Baylon said in a press release.

(The House hearings at the House on the PUVMP are not yet done and our petition is still pending at the Supreme Court but this regime is in a rush to take away the livelihoods of drivers and small operators.)

Protests against the January 30 deadline for franchise consolidation prompted dialogues between transport groups and the government that led to the extension of the deadline to April 30.

POE: WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SINCE JANUARY?

In a statement issued before the transport groups' announcement of a strike, Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services, said she wants to know what government has done in the three months that the consolidation deadline was pushed back.

"Have there been fruitful dialogues between the LTFRB and transport groups? Were there substantial efforts to reach out to the drivers and operators to help get them into the program?"

Poe added that the LTFRB should release a list of routes that will be served by jeepneys that have consolidated their franchises, and those where jeepneys will not be available.

"We can't just leave our commuters scampering for rides, especially under this extreme heat," she said.

Poe said she looks forward to a Supreme Court ruling on the petition filed by transport groups to "enlighten concerned agencies on the path to take on the so-called modernization of our PUV fleets."

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