PUVs told: No consolidation, no permit

THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has issued a memorandum circular effectively revoking the permit to operate of public utility vehicles (PUVs) failing to file applications for consolidation on or before Dec. 31, 2023.

The consolidation deadline has been the target of protests by transport groups claiming that mandatory franchise consolidation would lead to the phase-out of traditional public utility jeepneys (PUJs), automatically depriving drivers and operators of their livelihood.

Memorandum Circular 2023-051, approved and signed by the LTFRB on Thursday, December 14, states that all provisional authorities issued to individual operators of traditional jeepneys in all routes without consolidated transport service entities (TSEs) are deemed revoked effective Jan. 1, 2024.

At the same time, operators will not be allowed to register these units as public utility vehicles (PUVs).

«Accordingly, a show cause order shall be issued by the Board,» the LTFRB said.

All consolidated TSEs and individual operators that were able to file their application for consolidation on or before the deadline will be allowed to continue operating under their existing provisional authority, which shall be valid until Dec. 31, 2024.

According to Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) President Mody Floranda, an estimated 900,000 drivers and operators face dire consequences if they fail to renew their franchise and cannot consolidate with the LTFRB until December 31.

Floranda warned they would stage another transport strike if their request was not granted. There will be another transport crisis that will affect the economy. He then called on the government to carefully study such a step.

Piston led the two-day transport strike this week, calling for the extension of the December 31 deadline for franchise consolidation.

The transport groups pushed through with their strike that began on Thursday even after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the government would not extend its year-end deadline for PUJ drivers to consolidate themselves into cooperatives or corporations.

President Marcos noted that at present, «70 percent of all