“CRUEL and inhumane.”

This is how Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, described the plan to phase out the jeepneys without giving drivers enough subsidies.

Salceda at the same said as it pushes the public utility jeepney (PUJ) modernization program, the government must expedite the cooperativization.

Some 50,000 traditional PUJs have not yet been consolidated and may lose their franchises due to Memorandum Circular No. 2023-13 issued by the Land Transport Regulatory and Franchising Board (LTFRB).

Meanwhile, those who will cooperativize can have their provisional licenses renewed until the end of 2023.

“Totally, I oppose it without government providing concrete assistance to help PUJs cooperativize or to provide ample seed funding for their cooperatives. Even the end-2023 extension is not enough,” Salceda said.

The veteran solon he will be filing a resolution directing the House committee on transportation to call for the suspension of the memorandum circular.

“I think the policy is especially cruel and inhumane when there are no longer any PUJ subsidies in the budget. Cruel and inhumane when you consider that jeepney drivers were among the hardest-hit sectors over the past three years,” he stressed.

Salceda also called on the Department of Transportation and the LTFRB to work with local governments to create a scheme where local government units establish and operate modernized jeepneys.

“PUJs are a public utility, both by nature and by law, in the Public Service Act amendments. So, they are imbued with a greater sense of purpose than purely commercial enterprises. Public transport, arguably, should be run by the state. Ideally, at least,” he said.

“Much of the bad road behavior among PUJs is due to the need to get every passenger they can get. You can change that with an LGU or state-led PUJ sector,” Salceda added.

He stressed that without bigger subsidies or government assistance in setting up these coops, it might be killing the livelihoods of the sector.”

PUJs convey between 800k to 1.2 million passengers in NCR alone, “while being the main mode of transportation between towns in the provinces.”