By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
Next week will be marked by another three-day strike of jeepney drivers and operators — this time, by the transport group Manibela.
For those who haven’t followed, the government crackdown on non-participant drivers and jeepney operators in the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) is now the subject of a crackdown.
Unconsolidated PUVs still plying their routes after the extended deadline to form cooperatives and group franchises that would purchase new, modern, and environment-friendlier commuter vehicles are being flagged off the streets.
What drives them crazy is that the operator of the apprehended jeepney is slapped with a fine of P10,000, its driver meted out a one-year suspension, and the PUV impounded for 30 days and only retrievable upon a payment of P50,000.
While this corner understands how the government’s aim for eco-friendly goals is noble, enforcing the PUVMP through punitive measures on the most vulnerable is anything but.
It is for this reason that I find next week’s jeepney strike not just about transport; but about justice.
Manibela president Mar Valbuena was distraught in the press briefing the other day, lamenting how transport authorities — the Department of Transportation (DoTR) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) — betrayed their agreement before Congress that no crackdown will be executed.
“It was clear in our congressional hearing that it was agreed upon that no one will be apprehended and there is no violation for being unconsolidated to warrant impounding our vehicles,” Valbuena was quoted as saying in Filipino about what transpired with lawmakers at their last hearing before the House of Representatives.
Where now are the congressmen who made these government officials promise to suspend the apprehension of unconsolidated PUVs? The promised moratorium wasn’t just for show, was it? Because for all the noise in Congress, it sure looks like the government’s left hand doesn’t know what its right hand is enforcing.
The government’s heavy-handed crackdown on unconsolidated jeepneys — despite a promised moratorium — reveals a stark disregard for drivers’ livelihoods. Slapping operators with hefty fines and impounding their vehicles is a slap in the face to those who can’t afford costly modernization.
Even LTFRB Board Member Mercy Jane Paras-Leynes admitted in a statement this week that they have scheduled a meeting next week to “revisit how to relieve those who did not participate in the consolidation.”
Part of that discussion would be suggestions from various stakeholders to hold off the jeepney crackdown and allow them more time for consolidation for at least one more year.
So, why the need for a heavy-handed crackdown on unconsolidated jeepneys in the interim, when the PUVMP enforcing parties know full well that drivers’ livelihoods are at stake?
How about instead of impounding jeepneys, the government focuses on crumbling road infrastructure and insufficient land transport options or even moving financial institutions at greater ease and speed to assist in the funding of very costly modern commuter vehicles, which last I checked could go as high as P2.8 million a unit.
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