Transport group to hold ‘holiday’ vs. DOTr this week

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

A coalition of groups protesting the national government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) will hold a strike this coming Thursday, June 5, as part of their actions against the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) recent policy on the said program.

Members of the Panay-Negros United Transport Coalition (PNUTC) are expected to lead this strike, which they call a “transport holiday,” continuing their calls after staging a march in Iloilo City last Friday, May 30.

Elmer Forro of Bayan Panay, a member group of the PNUTC, told Aksyon Radyo Iloilo on Saturday, May 31, that this was due to DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon’s walk-back on a commitment made to them last March.

Forro mentioned that they had dialogues with Dizon thrice, stating and subsequently reiterating the commitment to allow traditional jeepneys to operate.

“The clearest commitment [Dizon] made to us was that all traditional jeepneys would be allowed to operate [within] 10 to 15 days after our dialogue,” Forro narrated.

He stated that they were misled by Dizon when he issued Department Order No. 2025-009 on May 7.

The department order reopens the consolidation of traditional jeepneys into cooperatives or corporations under the PUVMP, where they would then be allowed to return to the roads.

It also allows unconsolidated units to ply routes that have not been awarded to transport service entities.

“In actuality, there aren’t any routes that don’t have consolidated units. We were made to expect [and] misled by [Dizon’s] promises, and we know that President Bongbong Marcos played a part in it because he was the one who appointed [Dizon],” he said.

Forro said that they had approached the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-Region 6 (LTFRB-6) before their May 30 mobilization, where they were told that the agency’s hands were tied.

“The [LTFRB-6] is washing their hands of responsibilities to the transport sector in Western Visayas, and that’s the reason why we were pushed to move [on Friday],” he said.