PISTON Metro Baguio, among the largest public transport groups in Baguio and Benguet, has expressed its opposition to Baguio’s Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) anew as the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Manila has begun its crackdown on unconsolidated traditional jeepney operations.
In a statement, PISTON MB called the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) “bogus” and a move that is disadvantageous to the commuting populace, with the LPTRP, as something stemming from the PUVMP, being similarly “bogus” and disadvantageous.
According to PISTON, the LPTRP, which was formally put into place on May 6 of this year, the public transport sector was blindsided as they supposedly received no consultation or any form of communication from the local government regarding its passage or provisions, citing similar concerns having been raised in Tublay, Benguet, as well as outside the PISTON MB’s coverage.
PISTON also cited the LPTRP’s cutdown on active jeepneys and routes, which would see the current 46 jeepney routes cut down to 31 routes and would grant operation franchises only to “qualified operators,” an overall downside that would make it difficult for those farther from the central business district, and would lead to “more than 5,000 individuals and families” losing their livelihoods.
The LPTRP consolidates multiple and duplicate routes of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) into 29 rationalized routes, with two new developmental routes for a total of 31.
Principally authored by Councilor Benny Bomogao, the ordinance has been under review by the city council’s committee on public utilities, transportation, and traffic legislation since 2021.
It is part of the wider national push for modernized jeepneys, where the LTFRB has mandated all jeep operators to consolidate into transport cooperatives, with unconsolidated operators now treated as “colorum.”
“Authorities will check the serial number on the document issued by the LTFRB displayed on their jeepneys during the operations that started on May 16,” said the LTFRB in a statement today.
The government earlier gave jeepney and UV Express units only until April 30 to consolidate into cooperatives and corporations under the PUVMP. Those who would fail to do so would no longer be allowed to operate their routes. Additionally, jeep operators are required to transition to the use of “modernized” Euro-4 compliant models within 3 years, but doing so would cost potentially up to P3 million per model.
