Poe to DOTr: Don’t demean PUJ drivers’ source of income

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) should stop demeaning drivers of public utility jeepneys by telling them not to treat PUJ driving as a source of livelihood, Sen. Grace Poe said Thursday.

Poe, in a Balitanghali interview, was referring to a comment made by DOTr Assistant Secretary Mark de Leon that it was wrong to view public transportation as an opportunity to generate income, saying those who are financially capable of owning a jeepney should actually be the only ones entitled to a franchise.

De Leon also pointed out how jeepneys are unsafe, unfit for public transport, and pollutes the air.

De Leon's pronouncements came despite the fact that not all PUJ drivers in the country own their jeepneys and just serve as drivers of jeepneys owned by operators, Poe said.

De Leon made the remark in pushing for the Duterte administration's public utility vehicles (PUV) modernization plan which will ban PUVs, including jeepneys, aged 15 years old and above from plying the roads by 2020 and replace them with e-jeepneys worth P1.6 million to P1.8 million each.

Of that amount, the government will only subsidize P80,000 while the rest will be a loan payable by the jeepney owners/drivers.

“Walang pakiramdam itong DOTr. Ano 'yun, gigising ka [bilang jeepney driver] ng maaga [para bumyahe], trip, trip lang, ganun? Paano 'yung mga nakapagpatapos ng mga anak sa pag-aaral dahil sa [pagbabyahe ng] jeep?,” Poe, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services, said.

“Wala tayong duda na kailangan ng modernisasyon, pero napakaraming nakadepende sa trabahong 'yan. Kung gagawa ka ng modernisasyon, dapat mabigyan mo pa rin ng hanapbuhay ang mga ito. Responsibilidad 'yan ng gobyerno. Ang di dapat kumita rito, ang gobyerno. Pero kung iilan lang ang magpapatakbo [nitong modernisasyon], iilan lang ang magbebenispiyo rito," she added.

The PUV modernization program also requires drivers who do not own the PUJs that they drive to affiliate themselves with cooperatives which are financially capable of buying the new jeepneys since the government will only issue a franchise to operate to cooperatives, not individuals.

Once they are a part of a cooperative, drivers will work depending on the shift designated to them unlike in the present set up where individuals who own jeepneys can ply the road whenever they want, save for a day because of the number coding scheme which bans vehicles on the road based on the last digit of plate number.

“Gusto nila ng modernisasyon? Ayusin nila trabaho nila. Gumawa sila ng paraan para makapag comply ang mga drivers. P1.6 to P1.8 million ang isang e-jeep. Sa DOTr, isip isip muna bago magsalita. Walang compassion eh. Walang pakiramdam,” Poe said.

“Konting galang naman. Hindi 'yung sasabihin niyo na bahala kayo sa buhay niyo, basta magmo-modernize kami. 600,000 drivers ang apektado rito. Lalo tayong magakakagulo 'pag nawalan ng trabaho ang mga ito,” Poe added. — Llanesca T. Panti/MDM, GMA News