The
group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the government to extend the deadline
for consolidation of jeepneys by one year instead of one month as both the
government and operators are not yet prepared. Traditional jeepneys with
individual franchises have been allowed to continue operating in routes with
less than 60% consolidation according to a memo circular from the Land
Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
Moreover,
the group supported the call of Senator Koko Pimentel about transparency in the
supply of imported minibuses. PM also demanded that locally-made modern jeepneys
be prioritized to reduce costs and generate jobs. “Kailangan pa bang i-memorize
yan, dun tayo sa mura at gawang Pinoy,” averred Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.
“The
government should make the new year happy for jeepney operators and drivers.
President Bong Bong Marcos, Jr. can still choose not to be the Grinch that
stole their livelihoods. Some 140,000 stand to lose their source of living by
February 1, 2024,” stated Magtubo. The figure is based on one operator and one
driver for the estimated 70,000 jeepneys which have not consolidated.
The
group argued that the one-month delay in the implementation of the
consolidation exposes that the government is not ready for the consequences of
the jeepney modernization plan. “The government is not willing to admit the
reality but it is aware that the public transport system will fail if the hard
deadline for consolidation was enforced last January 1. In fact, not only do
jeepney operators and drivers stand to lose their means of livelihood but
commuters stand to lose their means of transportation,” Magtubo insisted.
He
added that “The bitter truth is that the government is not ready to implement
the phase of jeepney consolidation and the next period of the shift to
modernization. Why impose a hard deadline on jeepney operators and drivers when
transportation officials cannot even provide hard data on the level of
consolidation? In fact, transport officials also cannot give the exact number
of LGU’s which already have Local Public Transport Route Plans which is a
crucial component of the scheme along with consolidation.”
PM reminded the government that it has subscribed to the International Labour Organization’s principle of just transition. “Under just transition, affected workers and communities must be better not worse off as a result of the changes necessitated by climate mitigation and adaptation. But the rushed enforcement of jeepney consolidation which will lead to job losses for drivers and a broken transport system for commuters clearly violate the principle of just transition,” Magtubo explained.
Press Release
January 4, 2024
