DAVAO CITY – Thousands of jeepney drivers protested several areas nationwide against the plan to phaseout jeepneys.
The protests were held in Manila, Cebu, Baguio, Tacloban, Camarines Norte, and Laguna.
Anselmo Perweg, spokesperson of No to Jeepney Phaseout Coalition said they oppose the phaseout saying this will affect the livelihood of drivers and operators.
“Mariing tinututulan ng mga drayber, operator at mananakay ang jeepney phaseout ng gobyernong Aquino. Masaker ito sa kabuhayan ng mga drayber at operator habang magdudulot naman ng pahirap at perwisyo sa mga pasahero (We vehemently oppose the phaseout. This is a massacre against the livelihood of drivers and operators, while causing inconvenience to commuters),” said Perweg.
The government is mulling the phase out of public utility vehicles older than 15 years to push for modernization plans.
But the coalition said the government’s real objective is “corporatization” and “not modernization”.
Perweg said almost 600,000 drivers and 250,000 operators will be affected by the modernization plans.
He said the government will be identifying corporations where the operators and drivers will acquire their new jeepneys from. He said the new jeepneys would cause them more than a million pesos each.
“Aagawin pa ang karapatan naming bumiyahe sa pamamagitan ng aming mga asosasyon at iibigay sa monopolyo ng mga pribadong negosyo ng Fleet Management ang operasyon ng lahat ng jeep sa bansa (They will also take our right to ply our routes under our associations and give the monopoly to operate all the jeepneys to private business, Fleet Management),” Perweg said.
Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board said the planned phaseout will not be implemented next year “because it is still in the level of working draft subject to consultation”.
But the group said the LTFRB is just denying the implementation of phaseout next year. He said no less than Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Abaya confirmed this.
The group said there is no need to phase out 300,000 jeepneys in the country “as these are still in good condition and are regularly maintained under the government’s Motor Vehicle Periodic Inspection and Emission testing.” (davaotoday.com)
