Mindanao-wide caravan for PUV modernization issues

ISSUES surrounding the implementation of the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) will be discussed among stakeholders during a caravan to be held in 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,” said Aminoden Guro, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-Northern Mindanao director in an interview.

Guro said drivers and operators will be given the opportunity to raise their concerns on the newly introduced modernization of the country’s public transport system, set to be fully implemented by June 2020.

“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.

Issues such as the mechanism on the creation of cooperatives or corporations as a primary requirement in the issuance of franchises and the adoption of new technologies, in line with the PUVMP, are just some of the topics during the caravan, he said.

The Mindanao leg of the PUVMP caravan kicked off in General Santos on September 2, Tagum City on September 6, before proceeding to Cotabato City the following week.

Before making its way to Pagadian City on September 17, the caravan will be visiting the Northern Mindanao cities of Cagayan de Oro on September 20, and Valencia on September 24.

In Northern Mindanao, the caravan will make its way to Pagadian City on September 17, then in Cagayan de Oro on September 20, and Valencia City on September 24.

The caravan will make a stop in the cities of Butuan, Tandag, and Surigao in the Caraga Region within the month.

During the caravan, various transport groups and cooperatives in the region are invited to the event, even as PUVMP partner line agencies will also be participating by putting up their respective one-stop shops during the day-long event.

Among the government agencies present in the event are the Office of Transportation Cooperatives, the Cooperative Development Authority, the Technical Education Skills Development Authority, the Land Transportation Office, and financial institutions Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines.

Guro said suppliers of vehicles compliant with the LTFRB’s Omnibus Franchising Guidelines will form part of the caravan and will display their units in the cities, where it will pass through, to showcase their product line and to provide information on the kind of vehicles that are available for financing.

Expected to grace the caravan are DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra III, and other local and national transport officials. (PNA)