Fund service contracting along with pantawid pasada--labor group

 

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) asserted that the government should provide funding for service contracting of jeepneys aside from the pantawid pasada program. The budget for pantawid pasada or fuel subsidies for jeepney drivers was raised to P5 billion in the 2023 national budget but only P1.285 billion was set aside for “libreng sakay” or service contracting of buses and jeepneys. However, news reports state that the P1.285 billion may all be used to fund “libreng sakay” in the EDSA busway.

 

“The better formula is public funding of both fuel subsidies and service contracting for jeepneys. Higher fuel prices are not the only problem of jeepney drivers and operators. Just as bad is the uncertainty brought by the public utility vehicle modernization program of the government. Service contracting will allow jeepney cooperatives who undertook the difficult transition to survive and hopefully thrive,” explained Rene Magtubo, PM national chair and a Marikina city councilor.

 

Magtubo also stated that no funds for the public utility vehicle modernization program has been set aside for this year. This means that no funds are allotted for the P 160,000 state subsidy for operators of traditional jeeps to transition to modern jeeps. Jeepney organizations are calling for the subsidy to be raised to P 500,000 since the cheapest modern jeep now costs P 2 million.

 

Under the service contracting scheme implemented in late 2020, jeepney operators are paid by the government to ply their routes and commuters get to ride for free. This is the same scheme applied in the EDSA busway. Service contracting of both buses and jeepneys was allotted P 5.5 billion under the Bayanihan 2 and then another P 3 billion was budgeted in 2021.

 

The group Move As One Coalition, of which PM is a member, is campaigning for service contracting to shift from being a form of pandemic assistance to being the better normal of public transportation. The group assert that service contracting benefits all actors: commuters through a safe and convenient transport system; jeepney drivers who will gain status as employees of jeepney cooperatives and thus enjoy the rights and benefits of formal workers; and jeepney operators organized in cooperatives who will have guaranteed source of income from service contracts of several years in duration.

January 23, 2023

Partido Manggagawa

Service contracting is a great program but the LTFRB bungled it

The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM) slammed the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Department of Transportation (DoTr) for bungling the service contracting program. “Service contracting is a great idea but the LTFRB and DoTr bungled its implementation. Similar to the Department of Health (DOH), bad governance, if not massive corruption, attended its execution,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national chair.

 

Yesterday the LTFRB released a statement belying the Commission on Audit report that only 1% of the funds for service contracting was released to beneficiary drivers of public utility vehicles (PUVs). The LTFRB declared that P1.5 billion out of the P5.56 billion service contracting budget under Bayanihan 2 was disbursed.

 

“If that is true then only 25% of service contracting funds reached 50,000 drivers nationwide. There are already 120,000 transport workers in NCR alone, a conservative estimate based on one worker per PUV. The rest of the funds has been returned to the treasury without benefiting hundreds of thousands of needy and hungry transport workers. This is no different from hospital workers who decried the DOH for not granting hazard pay and benefits to deserving health care workers,” Magtubo added.

 

Ross Natividad, president of the Yellow Bus Line Employees Union (YBLEU), called on the LTFRB to shape up and respond to the demands of transport workers. YBL plies the South Cotabato to Davao route Mindanao. “It pains us to hear there are billions in funds that have not reached transport workers who are needy and hungry. YBL drivers, conductors, dispatchers and mechanics are becoming desperate since most of them had no regular income for more than a year already,” Natividad said.

 

He explained that the LTFRB contracted YBL for only two months of “libreng sakay” for APORs and HCWs from May to June 2021. “This was for only 14 buses then 48 buses but YBL has 190 units in total. Thus a majority of YBL workers did not benefit. Still, many of those who were lucky to be onboarded have not received their payouts,” Natividad explained.

 

He demanded that “We call on the LTFRB and DoTr to exercise tripartism and social dialogue so that it hears the concerns of workers. Only drivers were considered beneficiaries while conductors and other bus workers were not. The union had to negotiate with the company so that conductors can also work under service contracting and receive pay.”

 

Magtubo averred that “Service contracting must be rebooted. It should go beyond ayuda and libreng sakay as is being implemented now. Service contracting under the PUV Modernization program is a mechanism to formalize and improve the transport industry so that we have sustainable and livable cities. Through service contracting, government ensures the delivery of safe, comfortable and efficient public transport by engaging jeepney cooperatives and bus companies on long-term contracts and mandating regular employment with social protection for transport workers.” 

August 19, 2021