By FRANCK DICK ROSETE
Bulatlat.com
CAGAYAN DE ORO – Since its launch in June 2017, several groups have continuously protested against the government’s public transport modernization program (PTMP). In Cagayan de Oro, a few jeepney operators were forced to sell their units, losing interest in the program.
Jean Gabatan, 48, of Barangay Kauswagan, was one of them. She had no choice but to have her jeepney “chopped” and sold to a junk shop for a measly P15,000.
Apart from the idea of giving up her franchise in favor of cooperatives or corporations, Gabatan made the desperate decision sometime in 2022 following the changes made to their route based on the city’s approved Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP), which is a significant part of PTMP.
The city council adopted the LPTRP in the same year under Ordinance No. 14337-2022.
Read: Riding the crossroads: The battle of Manila’s jeepney drivers against modernization
Gabatan previously plied the Terry Hills-to-Cogon Public Market route and vice versa. In the approved transport route plan obtained by Bulatlat, the route is modified to Terry Hills-Divisoria Park and vice versa, reducing the roundtrip travel from 13.2 to 11.4 kilometers, which would result to a significant loss of P400 to their daily income, by estimates.
She decided to sell her jeepney even before the LPTRP is to be fully executed, preparing herself as early as possible. “I know where this is going,” Gabatan told Bulatlat, referring to the inevitable full implementation of the program.
“[The government] should educate the transport sector on what will happen to them and what are the pros and cons [of the program] for us to fully understand,” she added.
After what happened, the 48-year-old former jeepney operator became an allied worker of a transport cooperative in Cagayan de Oro, doing secretarial work. Meanwhile, her husband, who had been the driver of their jeepney, is now an on-call private driver. Gabatan did not divulge it, but she admitted that they have a comfortable income now, which is something to expect since she had only one PUJ when she was still a jeepney operator.
On July 30 this year, a Senate resolution was filed seeking to suspend the PTMP to improve its execution. However, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) affirmed its decision to continue the program despite the legislature’s move.
Read: Jeepney drivers welcome Senate move to suspend transport modernization
The last extension of the program was on April 30. Then, the LTFRB Board Resolution No. 53 dated July 15 was issued to allow unconsolidated PUVs to operate in areas with low consolidation rates.
Read: Jeepney modernization’s rushed timeline neglects drivers’ woes
Government support?
Under Department Order No. 2023-018 signed by Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista last August 31, the equity subsidy that can be availed for the purchase of modernized public utility vehicles (PUVs) under the PTMP has increased to P280,000 from P160,000 per unit.
However, despite this assistance, many jeepney operators remained hesitant in joining the modernization program, saying that the subsidy will be handled by cooperatives or corporations and not by the operators, said Gabatan’s father, Joel, a transport group organizer and chairperson of the United Drivers Association (UNIDA), a group helping with the concerns of PUV drivers and driver-operators in Cagayan de Oro.
“Here in Cagayan de Oro, there were many [jeepney operators] who do not want to join a cooperative. But they were forced to do so because they were being intimidated that they would no longer be allowed to operate,” the older Gabatan told Bulatlat.
He added that the subsidy remains insufficient despite the increase considering that the average price of a modern jeepney would cost around P2.5 million, or even higher, based on government officials’ estimates.
Read: ‘What modernization? Govt only acting as agent for Toyota, Ayalas, Pangilinans’
In an Inquirer report, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said the government should “efficiently subsidize” the modernization program, noting that “the majority of the program’s financial burden will fall on drivers and operators.”
Nothing to paralyze
Accordingly, Jean was not the only one who was forced to sell their jeepneys.
She said there were other operators she personally knows who also resorted to selling their PUJs to other jeepney operators due to PTMP’s problematic components.
Despite these operators’ decisions, she believed that this has not affected the public transportation in the city considering the high consolidation rate.
Northern Mindanao (Region 10), which covers the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte, Camiguin, and the two highly urbanized cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, is one of the regions in the country that has a high percentage of franchise consolidation, tallying 97 percent for PUJs and 96 percent for UV Express.
This data was provided by LTFRB Northern Mindanao last April.
In recent months, there were also no transportation strikes being conducted in the city.
Read: 2-day transport strike a success – transport groups
Alleged mismanagement
The UNIDA chairperson said the alleged mismanagement of cooperatives also gives operators hesitations to join the consolidation.
One of the problems he earlier cited was the alleged formulation of policies of cooperatives without proper approval from their policy-making bodies. “There were members of cooperatives who told me these problems,” Joel Gabatan told Bulatlat, adding that they have already filed complaints to the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).
The transport organizer stood firm with his stance that he will never be in favor of the consolidation component of PTMP, as this would dishearten the operators who worked hard to earn their franchises.
Jean, meanwhile, appealed to the Philippine government to bring PTMP back to discussion, urging key officials to have a grassroots-based approach to improving the modernization program. “The government should see the real situation [on the ground], the real capacity of the transport sector.”
Continue the fight
Transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston) urges Cagayan de Oro PUJ operators not to resort to selling their traditional jeepneys. Instead, they should join the fight to have a transportation industry that would benefit them and the commuting public, and not the big businesses that supply the modern buses.
“If they sell their jeepneys, what would be the future of their families?” Piston National President Modesto Floranda told Bulatat in Filipino on Monday, September 30. “We stand to fight and defend the retention of our public transport.”
Notwithstanding the high franchise consolidation rate in their respective areas, Floranda said PUV operators from other regions may coordinate with various groups to showcase that there are other sectors that oppose the modernization program.
The LTFRB is set to issue a new board resolution that will give a chance to unconsolidated PUVs to join the PTMP.
However, the Piston national president said the transport sector doesn’t need an extension. All they need, he said, is to allow them to renew their franchises for another five years and register their public transport vehicles, asserting that obliging the operators to join cooperatives or corporations “is a violation of freedom of association.” (JJE, RTS)
