MANILA, Philippines – Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista confirmed that the controversial public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program will push through even though it wasn’t allocated any funds under the proposed 2024 national budget.

“We requested from DBM (Department of Budget and Management) a budget of P1.8 billion. Unfortunately po, hindi po tayo nabigyan ng budget na ma-include sa NEP (we were not given any budget to include in the National Expenditure Program). But we will continue the modernization program,” Bautista said during a House budget briefing on Monday, September 4.

Without a 2024 budget for the program, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) must figure out how to implement the PUV modernization program when it is quite literally running out of personnel to do so.

“Ang nire-request po sana namin is that we be given additional funds because we lack manpower on the ground already because we don’t have a budget. More than half of our personnel doing PUVMP, we have already terminated their contract. Konti na lang po ang meron, at ito po ‘yung nagko-coordinate on the ground for the remaining budget na natititra,” Undersecretary Anneli Lontoc said during the House meeting.

(We’re requesting to be given additional funds because we lack manpower on the ground already because we don’t have a budget. More than half of our personnel doing PUVMP, we have already terminated their contract. Under our remaining budget, we only have a few people left, and these are the ones that coordinate the program on the ground.)

DUMPER-PTDA Representative Claudine Bautista-Lim, who also sits as vice chairperson of the House committee on transportation, brought up the difficulties of continuing the program despite budget constraints.

“Wala na nga silang budget, maliit ang kanilang equity na prino-provide natin (They don’t have a budget, they’re provided such little equity subsidies), and yet we are seemingly pushing for the program considering there [have] been now roadblocks in terms of manpower and in terms of the social support component,” Lim said.

The PUV modernization program is divided into several phases, with the end goal of having cleaner and safer “modern jeepneys.”

However, to get there, the DOTr first wants individual traditional jeepney operators to organize themselves. This is exactly what the DOTr will be focusing on while being limited by a lack of funds. 

“Ito po ang una sana na gusto naming mangyari para ‘yung mga operators at drivers (This is what we want to happen first so that the operators and drivers) will work as one so that they don’t compete with each other,” the transportation secretary said.

Currently, individual traditional jeepney operators have until December 31, 2023, to join either a cooperative or a corporation – or else they will lose their license to operate.

However, industry consolidation has sparked protests in the past, prompting the government to move the consolidation deadline several times already. Originally, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) set the deadline on June 30 this year, but a dayslong strike headed by some transport group forced the government to move the deadline again to the end of 2023.

Without a budget, what will the government do?

Under the 2023 budget, P200 million was allocated for the social support component of the program. In 2022, the budget for modernization was even bigger, with P1.8 billion allocated for equity subsidies and social support.

Although the Department of Budget and Management denied the DOTr’s request for a P1.8-billion budget for the PUV modernization program in 2023, the department still has funds to use for the continued training and equity subsidies given to affected drivers.

“Patuloy din po ang pagbibigay namin sa jeepney operators ng assistance (We continue to provide assistance for jeepney operators) in the form of equity subsidy to those who are ready to modernize,” LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said during the House meeting.

So far, Guadiz said that about 75% of jeepney operators have already consolidated into cooperatives, which is among the first steps in the modernization program. Meanwhile, the equity subsidies given by the government – around P360,000 – are meant to help operators in acquiring modern jeepneys, which can cost upwards of P2 million per unit.

Guadiz emphasized that operators will not be required to purchase expensive or brand-new jeepneys so long as the units that they possess are “roadworthy” and compliant with the Philippine National Standard for PUVs set by the Department of Trade and Industry. – Rappler.com