CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Issues that could be crucial in the implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) will be discussed among stakeholders during a caravan that will be held all over Mindanao this month.
“The Caravan is the best venue where we can discuss and clarify some PUVMP-related issues with our drivers and operators before it goes full blast next year,” Aminoden Guro, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-10 (LTFRB-10) Regional Director, said in an interview on Friday (Sep. 6).
The mechanism on the creation of cooperatives or corporations as primary requirement in the issuance of franchises and the adoption of new technologies in consonance with the PUVMP are just among the points of discussion during the caravan.
Drivers and operators will be given the opportunity to raise their concerns on the newly introduced modernization of the country’s public transport system.
“We want to hear their apprehensions and concerns so we could shed light on them. It’s very important that we listen to them and explain the advantages of the PUVMP,” Guro said.
He also shared that suppliers of modernized vehicles compliant with the LTFRB’s Omnibus Franchising Guidelines will be part of the caravan. They will showcase their product line and will provide information on the kind of vehicles that are available for financing.
The Mindanao leg of the PUVMP Caravan kicked off in General Santos City on Sept. 2. It made a stop in Tagum City on Sept. 6 before proceeding to Cotabato City. In Northern Mindanao, the caravan will stop at Pagadian City on Sept. 17, then in Cagayan de Oro City on Sept. 20, and Valencia City on Sept. 24. It will also make a stop in the cities of Butuan, Tandag, and Surigao in the Caraga region.
Various transport groups and cooperatives are invited as PUVMP’s partner line agencies will participate by putting up their respective one-stop shops during the day-long event.
Among the government agencies that will participate in the event are the Office of Transportation Cooperatives, Cooperative Development Authority, Technical Education Skills Development Authority, Land Transportation Office, and financial institutions Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines.
Expected to grace the caravan is DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III, and other local and national transport officials.
The PUVMP is a flagship non-infrastructure project of the Duterte administration that aims to provide safe, reliable, convenient, affordable, and environmentally sustainable public transport system in the country by June 2020. (davaotoday.com)
