THE recent pronouncement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sounds more like shutting down the slim chances of the traditional jeepneys to stay on the road.
According to the President, the December 31 deadline for consolidating public utility vehicle (PUV) operators won’t be extended just because a fraction of the public transport sector doesn't like the idea of forming or joining a cooperative.
True enough. The majority always gets the leverage in a democratic country.
However, is it really prudent to replace diesel-fed traditional jeepneys with a bus which runs on the same fuel which triggers black smoke into the air we breathe?
How about considering the financial capability of the drivers who stand to lose their livelihood on the very first day of 2024, or maybe subsidize the amount (which they return on a easy-installment plan) will required for them to be able to replace the old passenger jeepneys with a new, modern – but definitely not with diesel-fed mini buses in the guise of “modern jeepneys.”
Or better yet, give an option for “swapping” or “trade-in.”
Interestingly, e-buses, which cost almost the same amount with the Euro 5 “modern jeepneys,” would be better because it doesn't emit poisonous black smoke which causes a long list of respiratory ailments.
Simultaneously, the government should see to it that charging stations would be as many as gasoline stations since lithium batteries which are being used to run e-vehicles won’t last 12 hours on the road.
Subsidies, access to credit facilities, and other forms of government assistance may not sit well especially coming from the government which in many instances reneged on its promises.
The funny thing is that the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has allotted a measly P1.6 billion for the PUV Modernization, which by the way required at least P63 billion for around 300,000 traditional jeepnews across the country.
If the DOTr would insist that the government doesn’t have that much, how could a lowly jeepney driver be capable of producing .0001 percent of that amount?
Sometimes, it doesn’t take an expert to decipher the real situation. Just a little common sense will be enough.
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