Three Negros transport groups representing more than 3,000 drivers and operators say the proposed program threatens their livelihoods and raises questions about cost and readiness.
For three transport groups in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City, the proposed Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) raises a basic question: who will still be able to operate public transport when the transition is complete? Representing more than 3,000 traditional jeepney operators and drivers, they say the plan could push them out of the routes they serve.
The groups—BACODNO-MANIBELA, Kabakod Negros Transport Coalition (KNETCO) and UNDOC-PISTON—joined forces after what they describe as a threat to their livelihoods. They stepped up their protests during the five-day Electric Vehicle Summit, which opened at Ayala Malls Capitol Central in Bacolod on Monday, October 26. Four days earlier, members walked out of a World Bank–Department of Transportation (DOTr) dialogue at Seda Hotel-Bacolod and protested outside.
They called the dialogue staged to secure support for the plan. The DOTr has yet to present its account of the dispute in the article’s reporting; the groups’ objections center on the program’s cost, its effect on existing operators and the fate of traditional jeepneys.
A new program with familiar concerns
The PTMP is a rebranded version of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), introduced nine years ago under DOTr Department Order No. 2017-011. The existing program phases out traditional jeepneys in favor of modernized vehicles with Euro 4-compliant engines.
At more than P2 million per unit, those vehicles have been beyond the reach of many individual operators. Under the PUVMP, operators had to form cooperatives to apply for financing from the Landbank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines. The source reports that the program has accumulated about P5 billion in debt, with the two banks serving as its primary government lenders.
The financing model has already left some local operators exposed. Eight of the 11 cooperatives under the Bacolod Modernized Jeepney Transport Association are facing significant problems, and 329 of the association’s modernized jeepneys could be repossessed by Landbank or the Development Bank.
The proposed PTMP would shift access to World Bank financing toward established transport companies and corporations with strong performance records, rather than cooperatives. It would also upgrade vehicles to Euro 4L-equipped units. The plan described by the groups would replace three traditional jeepneys with one modernized vehicle.
The DOTr is expected to pilot the program in five highly urbanized cities—Bacolod, Iloilo, Cebu, Baguio and General Santos—as well as in the National Capital Region, once remaining obstacles are cleared.
Operators question affordability and readiness
Rudy Catedral, BACODNO-MANIBELA president, said at an October 26 press conference that the PTMP repeats the aims of the earlier program under a new name. “It is the same intention, but this time, the DOTr is just masquerading as the World Bank to cover up its failed PUVMP,” he said, adding that the plan would “wipe us all out.”
KNETCO president Lilian Sembrano said a wider rollout is premature while operators lack assurances about the capacity, reliability and sustainability of modernized vehicles, including electric vehicles. She proposed testing World Bank-funded EVs for a year in areas without transport service entities, so operators could assess their performance before they are introduced on established routes. Adding them to routes already served by those entities, she said, could make operations more complicated.
Sembrano also questioned whether operators can afford the proposed vehicles. She cited prices of P3 million to P4 million and asked Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya to intervene in negotiations between the World Bank and the DOTr. She said no feasibility study for the PTMP had been presented to the operators and urged authorities to consider rehabilitating existing vehicles first.
The dispute over scrapping and routes
Sembrano’s strongest concern is the possibility that traditional jeepneys could be taken to a designated scrapping center and demolished. She described the vehicles as treasured assets and said operators plan to challenge the program legally, arguing that modernization is mandated through a DOTr department order rather than a law. “We will fight for our rights. We will fight for our families,” she said.
Rodolfo Gardoce Jr., head of UNDOC-PISTON, warned that the group could call a large-scale “untat byahe,” or transport stoppage, if the plan proceeds.
Gerry Llena, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s regional director for Negros Island, said he had yet to hear both sides. He rejected the claim that the PTMP would trade three traditional jeepneys for one modernized unit, calling it a myth. Route planning, he said, follows the Local Public Transport Route Plan; scrapping vehicles without regard to that plan could worsen shortages.
The dispute now turns on what the pilot will require of existing operators, how new vehicles will be financed and whether the transition can maintain service on current routes. For the groups in Negros, those answers need to come before the program reshapes the fleet.
Discussion
Sign in to join the discussion.