DOTr allots P19B for PUV modernization program
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is committed to allotting P19 billion towards the just transition of drivers and workers who will be affected by the public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP).
During the plenary deliberations for the agency’s 2025 budget on Tuesday, Valenzuela Rep. Eric Martinez confirmed that the agency was merely waiting for the passage of the proposed amendments to the Motor Vehicles Users Charge (MVUC), which would earmark part of its collections for equity subsidies of P500,000 per unit for the PUVMP.
The said measure, passed by the House of Representatives on third reading last year and now pending in the Senate, proposes a road users’ tax that would increase by 5 percent after 2027.
If the bill is implemented into law, Martinez said, the agency could implement the just transition program “by 2030-2031.”
Eco-friendly models
Transport groups and even the Commission on Human Rights have long been calling for a just transition program in the context of the PUVMP, which seeks to replace the traditional diesel-powered PUVs with Euro-4-centric models that are supposedly more eco-friendly.
However, these are also more costly and are currently priced at more than P2 million per unit, which is too expensive for most jeepney drivers.
A just transition, the CHR said, requires that the government to “efficiently subsidize the program, develop a communication strategy for the public, and make the implementing rules and regulations of the PUVMP more understandable.”
This was also the stance of two other lawmakers, Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel and Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, who argued during the deliberations that the costs of transitioning should not lead to jeepney drivers and operators losing their jobs.
The Senate earlier passed a resolution calling for suspending the program. Still, President Marcos Jr. stood firm in his decision to continue with the PUVMP, citing state transport data that 80 percent of PUVs have already complied with the program.
The President has tried to set hard deadlines for the phase-out of old jeepneys thrice, but these deadlines have never materialized.
