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Tutol si House Ways and Means Committee Chair Joey Salceda sa planong pag-phase out ng mga tradisyonal na jeep pagsapit ng June 30.

Aniya, hindi makatao na ipatupad ang jeepney modernization kung wala rin namang ayuda o tulong na ibinibigay sa mga tradisyonal na jeep para sa kanilang cooperativization.

Kung itutuloy aniya ng Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) ang pagpapatupad sa Memorandum Circular No. 2023-13, maaapektuhan ang nasa 50,000 na tradisyonal na jeep at mawawalan ng prangkisa.

Magreresulta naman aniya ito sa 800,000 hanggang 1.2 million na pasahero sa National Capital Region (NCR) na malilimitahan ang transportasyon.

Paalala pa ng Albay solon, kabilang ang mga jeepney driver sa mga lubhang pinadapa at tinamaan sa nakalipas na tatlong taon ng pandemya.

“Totally, I oppose it without government providing concrete assistance to help PUJs cooperativize or to provide ample seed funding for their cooperatives. I think the policy is especially cruel and inhumane when there are no longer any PUJ subsidies in the budget. Cruel and inhumane when you consider that jeepney drivers were among the hardest-hit sectors over the past three years,” diin ni Salceda.

Hinikayat naman ng mambabatas ang Department of Transportation (DOTr) at LTFRB na makipagtulungan sa mga local government unit upang sila na mismo ang bumuo at magpatakbo sa kooperatiba ng modern jeeps.

“…We should work with local governments, provincial governments in particular, and among NCR mayors, so that LGU-led cooperatives or corporations can run the routes instead, with the displaced PUV drivers are regular employees. That will help rationalize routes better, create more dependable livelihoods for transport workers, and lead to better traffic conditions,” dagdag ng Albay solon.

Maghahain ng resolusyon si Salceda para himukin ang House Committee on Transportation para ipahinto ang naturang kautusan.

Bubuhayin din aniya ng kaniyang komite ang pag-repaso sa Road Users’ Tax kung saan ipinapanukala na ilaan ang 45% ng incremental revenues sa PUJ Modernization Program.

“We should take the PUJ modernization push as an opportunity to reshape the public transport sector. But let’s not pauperize an already struggling sector to get that done. And frankly, keeping the PUJ sector largely private will eventually create the same problems that we are trying to address right now – bad road behavior, irrational routes, and depressed incomes for PUJ workers,” pagtatapos ni Salceda. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes