THE Bacolod City Government has vowed to cooperate with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in apprehending drivers of unconsolidated public utility vehicles (PUVs).
“If the final policy is not to grant another extension to those who fails to consolidate of their public utility vehicles including those who doesn’t have a provisional authority (PA) then, the City will cooperate to the operation of the Land Transportation Office to apprehend the drivers,” Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Monday, February 10, 2025.
Benitez said he already talked to the LTO and asked its officials to provide the final policy on the unconsolidated PUVs.
“If the policy will be no more extension and they will start the apprehension (LTO), so be it because it’s their mandate to implement the law and we will support them,” he said.
In 2024, at least 1,500 traditional public utility jeepneys (PUJs) in Bacolod have joined the consolidation and continued plying to their respective routes.
Under the Public Transport Modernization Program, formerly called the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), traditional jeepneys have to consolidate into either a cooperative or a corporation, and failure to meet the deadline of the consolidation would result in the revocation of franchises of non-compliant operators, preventing them to operate.
In April 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that the April 30 deadline for the franchise consolidation of the PUVs will no longer be extended.
In Bacolod, the Local Public Transport Route Plan has originally identified 24 routes, with a total allocation of 1,099 modern jeepney units under the PUVMP.
Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairperson of the City Council committee on transportation, said the extension of the Business One-Stop-Shop (Boss) and the deadline for the payment of business taxes, fees, and charges will end on February 15, 2025.
“So by February 16, the City will intensify its operation against any businesses operating without business permit including the public transportation or the PUVs,” he said.
On the part of the transport sector, Espino explained that before the local government unit will issue the business permit, the operator should have a franchise from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
“This is not targeting the traditional jeepneys, it will be targeted all vehicles that are plying the city streets without a registration,” Espino said.
He said the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) has no authority to apprehend the unconsolidated PUJs.
Espino said that some leaders of the transport groups were also irresponsible and insincere to fight their cause and using their members to rally in streets. (MAP)