PISTON presses SC for TRO on PUV consolidation deadline

MANILA, Philippines — On the eve of the deadline for jeepney franchise consolidation and on the first day of a three-day nationwide transport strike, transport groups yesterday again asked the Supreme Court to order the suspension of the public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP), saying forcing its implementation would hurt the industry and the public in general.

In a supplemental petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO), transport groups led by the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) said the Department of Transportation (DOTR) had included in its new order additional requirements for consolidation and management of operations previously not included in its order.

They also cited the business sector’s call for the suspension of the consolidation deadline for an indefinite period and the creation of “an affordable, sustainable and carbon-neutral mass transport system.”

The business sector, they said, has called for an urgent review of the PUVMP “to address its legal, financial and human rights infirmities,” maintaining that the transport system should include support for local jeepney manufacturers to design and produce affordable, safe and environmentally friendly vehicles.

Transport groups in December last year also sought a TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction on several government orders related to the PUVMP.

These include DOTr Order No. 2017, which serves as guidelines for the implementation for the PUVMP, and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Memorandum Circular 2023-051, which set the deadline for consolidation.

“Essentially, the new DOTr DO includes the assailed forced consolidation in its Technical Requirements (paragraph 5) and directs LTFRB to ‘adopt a policy on the consolidation of CPCs and substitution of units.’ This is also not found in DOTR DO 2017-011,” the petition read.

“The requirement of consolidation is untenable at this point, and fundamentally unlawful. This is why there is continuing resistance from among the stakeholders, and particularly, jeepney drivers to forced franchise consolidation,” the petition read.

Transport groups also reiterated that all the