#notojeepneyphaseout

SAY HELLO TO A WORSENED TRANSPORT CRISIS BY 2024

By: Mariella Angela H. Olden (December 28, 2023 | 9:25 PM)

Following a meeting with transportation officials, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on December 12 that no further extensions for consolidation of public utility vehicles (PUV) shall be granted.

One of the cultural markers of Philippine identity is the jeepney. Jeepneys have been the primary mode of transportation for Filipinos due to its affordability and accessibility, particularly for students and workers. Furthermore, it has traditionally been the primary occupation of drivers and operators.

In June 2017, the government established the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), intending to replace and eventually phase out traditional jeepneys to improve public transportation. However, with the impending phaseout of jeepneys by December 31, 2023, drivers and operators will be forced to purchase costly modern vehicles supported by the government.

Data from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) indicates that five days before the consolidation deadline, 31,058 traditional jeepneys, or 73.5% of them in Metro Manila, have yet to be consolidated. These unconsolidated units are highly not a minority.

Why should drivers, operators, commuters, and workers fight back? Among the many effects of the PUVMP is the increase in the minimum fare that will continue to make Filipinos suffer. The PUV Modernization program is a business. Corporations and large businesses will take over and have the advantage of raising fares to pay for expensive "modern jeeps." In contrast, this is a big disadvantage to the families of the drivers and operators, who will sink into debt due to the burden of the monthly payment of the modernized vehicle.

In addition, the Department of Energy and LTFRB has reported that the number of registered vehicles in the Philippines exceeds 9 million. Just over 250,000, equivalent to 2% of jeepneys, make up the total.

More detrimental effects of this program include the modern jeepney being way more expensive than the traditional jeepney. The price of a typical jeepney ranges from P150,000 to P250,000. The cost of operating a modern e-jeepney will rise by 1,766.7% to P2.8 million for drivers and operators. Although P160,000 will be given as a subsidy according to LTFRB, which amounts to a mere 5.7% of the jeepney's entire cost, jeepney drivers will be forced to make at least more earnings each day to be able to settle their loan if they were to switch to the modern jeepney.

By the year 2024, the mass transport crisis in the country will worsen. The government cannot fill such a large and significant gap in public transport in the country. With the influx of imported cars, many local manufacturers and industries will be affected.

The PUVMP program is forcefully erasing one of the main parts of our identity as Filipinos and only in favor of a few rich and foreign interests, making the Filipino masses suffer, further impoverished, and left behind.

Drivers, operators, commuters, and workers—

So much stuff happening in the world but we still gotta keep on moving forward and we gotta have each other's backs for that. My heart goes out to Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, Congo, and the rest of the people in this world who are suffering.

Of course my heart also goes out to my own country. NO TO JEEPNEY PHASEOUT!

Imbis na sana nag hahanda sila para sa bagong taon kasama pamilya nila andito sila sa kalsada dahil sa napaka walang kwentang gobyerno. Nakakagalit kasi napaka rich-centric ng bansa natin knowing na majority ay working class and lower class, lahat nalang mas nagbebenifit ang mga mayayaman, kaya di na talaga ko nagtataka bakit halos karamihan sa mga mayayaman gustong gusto si Marcos.

LABANAN ANG KLASISTANG PAMAMALAKAD, TUMINDIG KASAMA ANG MENORIDAD!

LABAN NG TSUPER, LABAN NG KOMYUTER!

Labing-apat na araw. Simula ika-1 ng Enero, 2024, hindi na papayagan ng pamahalaan na pumasada ang mga dyip na hindi modernisado. Sa loob ng labing-apat na araw, ang kasalukuyang pamasahe na Php 12 ay lolobo hanggang Php 40-50 upang tustusan ang gastos ng tsuper sa tinatayang 2.8 Milyon hanggang 5 Milyong halaga ng modernong dyip. Sa loob ng labing-apat na araw, tinatantiyang 64,000 na drayber at 25,000 na operator ang sasalubong sa bagong taon nang walang trabaho.

Ang pamimilit ng pamahalaan na isakatuparan ng mga maliliit na tsuper at operator ang Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) ay tanda ng klasismo. Saan kukuha ng dalawang milyon si Manong Drayber na nagkakandakuba na para maabot ang kaniyang boundary, upang i-modernisa ang kaniyang dyip? Anong silbi ng ipinangakong subsidiya ng gobyerno na makatutulong daw sa mga drayber kung anim hanggang walong porsyento (6-8%) lang naman ang maiaambag sa kabuuang gastos para sa modernong unit? Ang kasalukuyang kalagayan ng sistemang pantransportasyon ng Pilipinas ay higit nang masalimuot—pagpatak ng alas sais ay hindi na uusad ang trapik; ang dating isang oras na biyahe ay inaabot na ng dalawa. Paano pa kung mababawasan ang mga pampublikong sasakyan? Hindi dapat tayo sa mga tsuper na naghahanap-buhay magalit, kundi sa administrasyong hindi makatao, hindi makamasa, at lalong hindi makabayan. 

Kasabay ng mga malawakang protesta, tumitindig ang UPIS Media Center kasama ang lahat ng mga tsuper, operator, komyuter, at mamamayan na ipinaglalaban ang karapatang panatilihin ang pamamasada ng mga tradisyunal na dyipni. Ang kasalukuyang programa ay hindi makamasa’t karapat-dapat ibasura sapagkat kung tunay na para sa ikabubuti ng bansa ang intensyon nito, hindi nito yuyurakan ang hanapbuhay ng mga mamamayang pumapasan ng bayan.

PARA PO! PARA SA BAYAN!