AMID the Department of Transportation's (DOTr) intent to halt the operations of some 170,000 iconic jeepney units in the country by mid-2020, jeepney owners would be compelled to sell their old vehicles to state-accredited scrapping firms.
Speaking to Palace reporters, DOTr Assistant Secretary Mark de Leon said the agency is targeting to implement the total phase-out of jeepneys by mid-2020, as part of the government's effort to push for the public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program.
"Kailangan natin tanggalin 'yun sa kalsada (We need to get those vehicles off the roads)," De Leon said in an interview.
De Leon said jeepney owners would be mandatorily required to dispose of their vehicles in exchange for roughly P20,000 to P30,000 they would receive from the scrapping companies.
He added that the government would be accrediting companies who are willing to buy the metal scraps from the dilapidated jeepney units.
"We will be accrediting scrapping companies. So i-scrap nila tapos makukuha nila ang scrap value (They will scrap the jeepneys and get the scrap value). We are looking at [an estimated scrap value of] P20,000 to P30,000," De Leon said.
The transportation official said the government would distribute P80,000 worth of subsidy to jeepney owners to modernize their units.
He said jeepney operators should comply with the PUV modernization program, as he vented frustration that 70 percent of the country's public transportations are being run by jeepney units, 90 percent of which are already "15 years old and above."
"Ang problema, (The problem is) the jeepneys dominate the public transportation of our country. Seventy percent of our public transportations are being run by jeepneys, and yet, hindi sila nagmo-modernization (they are not modernizing the units)," De Leon said.
"Bibigyan kayo ng P80,000 ng gobyerno, subsidy, tapos papatakbuhin mo pa rin yung lumang unit? Binigyan ka na nga ng bagong unit ng gobyerno, you’re running the old unit. Kailangan natin tanggalin sa kalsada," he added.
(The government will give you P80,000 as subsidy, then you'll still drive the old jeepney unit? The government gives you a new unit, you're running the old unit? Those should be gotten off the roads.) (SunStar Philippines)