LTFRB extends anew deadline for PUV modernization application to March 2021

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has extended the deadline for the filing of applications for consolidation of individual and existing franchise holders under the PUV Modernization Program until March 31, 2021.

DUMPER-PTDA party-list Representative Claudine Bautista shared the development in a statement to reporters on Wednesday.

According to her, the LTFRB recently issued Memorandum Circular No. 2020-084 lifting the earlier extended deadline of December 31, 2020 for the consolidation of all individual franchise holders into cooperatives or corporations in compliance with the "one route, one operator concept" of the PUV Modernization Program.

The said memorandum is also posted on the Facebook page of LTFRB Region IX.

The original deadline for the application was set on July 10, but the LTFRB had decided to extend it until December 31 in response to President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of a National Health Emergency amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bautista, nevertheless, requested the LTFRB to further extend the deadline, saying that while the government has been succeeding in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the public transport industry has yet to fully recover from its impact.

“PUV operators and drivers cannot at this moment shoulder the cost that comes with the filing of their application for consolidation.  Their current economic situation necessitates that they be given more time to get back to their own feet and fully recover,” she said.

Bautista likewise pointed out that under the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, any phase out of non-compliant routes is not allowed.

“I never doubted that the LTFRB will heed the appeal of the public transport sector.  The board deserves a commendation from a grateful industry,” she said.

In extending the deadline for the filing of applications for industry consolidation, Bautista said the LTFRB also took into consideration the existing quarantine protocols in the country, noting that these made it difficult for grantees of certificate of public convenience to file their applications consolidation. -MDM, GMA News