Pimentel: PUV modernization program should be suspended

SENATE minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III yesterday said the Public Utility Jeepney Modernization Program should be suspended indefinitely until the kinks in the program have been ironed out.

In a Zoom interview with the media, Pimentel said the low acceptance rate of drivers and operators consolidating into cooperatives should be a signal for the government to indefinitely suspend the program since this will lead to dissatisfaction among drivers.

Once dissatisfied, he said a large number of the members of the transport industry may opt out of the sector to look for other jobs.

“There will be no peace and harmony in the transport sector. Cooperation is needed. If there is such a thing called industrial peace, there should also be peace and harmony in the transport sector, not only for the sake of the riding public but for the operators and drivers as well. If they feel that their efforts are not sufficient enough to feed their families, they will get out of the transport sector. Therefore, there will be a lesser supply of vehicles in our growing population which needs to be mobile, we need to move around for work, schooling and recreation. With this, there might be a shortage and the riding public will suffer,” he said.

He said the executive branch should put on hold the modernization program and “take advantage of the suspension to review the program.”

“The program has very low acceptability because it was not properly explained. But if they had explained it, maybe it was done inside an airconditioned room and they did not get the facts of the real lives of jeepney drivers and operators,” he said.

Pimentel recalled that during the budget season last year, authorities said only around 40 percent of transport groups in Metro Manila and more than 70 percent nationwide have consolidated into cooperatives.

“My point is do not force the program. It is not yet time. How can they pay their debts?” he said.

He said legislation for the modernization program should be in place so that concerned sectors, including the drivers and operators, can present their positions since it is apparent the PUVMP was solely conceptualized by “finance people.”

“It seems that this