Revised PUV modernization guidelines possibly out by November – LTFRB OIC

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 23) — The government is eyeing to release the revised 2017 Omnibus Franchising Guidelines, the core policy of the government’s plan to modernize public utility vehicles, by November, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) officer-in-charge Mercy Leynes said on Monday.

General Santos City Rep. Loreto Acharon asked the LTFRB about the changes it is proposing to make the PUV Modernization Program’s implementation “just” and “humane” as the House Committee on Transportation conducted a hearing about the alleged anomalies in the agency.

Leynes said the steering committee of the Department of Transportation and the LTFRB are currently drafting the revisions for the franchising guidelines, adding most of the changes were sourced from consultations done since the start of the year.

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“May mga [There are] concerns, for example, there is [a] discussion on changing the timeline for fleet modernization which is one of the components of the PUVMP,” Leynes said, adding that transport operators reported difficulty in acquiring modern units within the suggested time frame in the franchising guidelines.

“That is one of the proposed revisions to the new PUVMP guidelines that will be issued with the target of sometime [in] November. May mga draft na nagawa do’n [Drafts have been made],” she added.

Leynes also said that transport officials are trying to come up with a Plan B if the PUV modernization plan is unfunded next year, stressing that they need technology to monitor the modification of routes.

She said the LTFRB is ready to submit a bill proposal for a legislative framework for the PUV Modernization Program to give it funding allocation for its continued implementation.

Drivers and operators have until Dec. 31 to consolidate, which is the first component of the modernization plan that would phase out PUVS, especially jeepneys, that are more than 15 years old. Transport group Manibela staged a transport