THE provincial board invited officials from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Land Bank of the Philippines as well as transport groups for an update on the implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) and other issues surrounding it.

Vice Governor Mark Lambino told reporters that of the 10 phases of the PUVMP, Pangasinan already complied with required inventory of PUVs, identification of routes, passage of the Local Transport Route Plan.

The critical issue today is the December 31, 2023 deadline set by the LTFRB for operators (jeepneys, PUVs) to consolidate for the modernization consolidation program, he said.

LTFRB regional director Atty. Annabel Marzan-Nullar informed the board that 90 percent of registered PUVs in all the registered routes have already registered under a consolidated franchise, or at least one consolidated cooperative in all the routes.

While there are still 235 jeepney operators that have not consolidated, she assured the board that it will not affect commuters.

Based on information gathered by the SP, Lambino said among the reasons for the  resistance to comply are: lack of information on the modernization program, the subsidy from the government, and mainly because of financial implications.

“We asked the LTFRB to have a balance in their implementation as there are Pangasinan operators who “gambled” on their upgrade for the modernization and are still hoping for a return of their investment,” Lambino said.

For her part, Nullar said the PUV Modernization Program started in June 2017 and the new deadline for the consolidation is December 31 end of this year, Nullar told the SP.

While clarifying that industry consolidation is not equivalent to jeepney phase out, she said there are 2,491 units in Pangasinan, both traditional and modernized units. Out of these 2,491 units, 2,256 units have already been consolidated or a total of 90.57%.

Responding to Fourth District Board Member Jerry Agerico Rosario’s question on the number of cooperatives that have already purchased or upgraded their units, Nullar said only 7.89% (or 30) of the total 2256 consolidated units have modernized.

She said the Lingayen-Dagupan Transport Service Cooperative has 41 units. The lowest recorded one TSE is a cooperative that has 4 modernized units. (Eva Visperas)

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