Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez is asking the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to allow traditional jeepneys in Bacolod City to continue to operate despite missing the December 31 consolidation deadline.
The city government submitted a letter of intent to the LTFRB for the jeepneys to continue to operate with provisional authorities while they are addressing the consolidation process required under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), Benitez said at a press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
“The city, in coordination with the jeepney drivers, agreed that we will send a letter of intent, and we will work out the details afterwards…The city will now be an active partner or will provide support to them to be able to continue their operations,” he said.
“Maybe we can review the consolidation process and come up with a system where individual drivers can still operate under the old system,” he said.
Only 23 percent or 540 of the 2,313 traditional jeepneys in Bacolod have consolidated into either a cooperative or a corporation, which is required under the PUVMP, data from the LTFRB showed Tuesday.
City Administrator Lucille Gelvolea said the Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Negros (STONE) and a transport group from Barangay Granada have expressed willingness to consolidate.
The mayor endorsed the letter of STONE, which has more than 1,000 members, to the LTFRB asking for an extension of time because they are also willing to be consolidated.
Gelvolea said the city government would also meet with other operators and driver groups that have yet to consolidate.
The Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators, and Drivers has been staging protests against the PUVMP.
“This is a national law…We hope they will realize that the local government has to comply, all we have to do is to help them,” Gelvolea said.
Benitez said the city’s priority is the riding public to make sure they have sufficient public transportation.*