By ALELI MADRIGAL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Flu did not stop the 45-year-old jeepney driver Rolly Ballada from joining the strike led by transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) in front of the main office of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) at Quezon City, Dec. 15.
“I have four children. My eldest is graduating next year. My other children are in high school. What will happen to us when the new year arrives? How will I meet my family’s needs?” Ballada asked as he was sitting across his resting 15-year-old jeepney.
It has been two days since Ballada did not go out to drive around the roads of the University of the Philippines-Diliman and Philcoa and earn the usual daily 500-peso ($9.00) income for his family.
“My income is insufficient to support a family of six. What is going to happen to us after Dec. 31? Our children will suffer if I lose this job,” he said.
Ballada is among the jeepney drivers at risk of losing their primary source of livelihood if their operators fail to apply for franchise consolidation by Dec. 31.
As a response, transport groups and supporters from different parts of the country staged a two-day transport strike from Dec. 14 to 15 to demand the junking of franchise consolidation and the entire Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
“Is this what we will receive from the government this Christmas, the loss of livelihood for thousands of drivers and operators? They should be ashamed. Many families will face the new year hungry,” PISTON National President Mody Floranda said.
PISTON and Samahang Manibela Mananakay at Nagkaisang Terminal ng Transportasyon (MANIBELA) announced the continuation of the transport strike from Monday, December 18 until December 25. They also saw the possibility of extending it until December 31, the deadline of franchise consolidation.
In a separate statement, MANIBELA Chair Mar Valbuena said that they will hold a protest in front of the Malacañang Palace on Dec. 25.
‘Minority’ affected
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) last Dec. 12, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that there will be no extension of the deadline for the consolidation of PUVs. He claimed that 70% of operators have been consolidated under the PUVMP.
“We cannot let the minority cause further delays, affecting [the] majority of our operators, banks, financial institutions, and the public at large,” he said in the same post.
On the same day, PISTON in a statement said that the statistics were misleading. According to the transport group, it failed to elaborate that the number meant all types of PUVs nationwide, including buses.
They warned that the majority of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) and utility vehicle express (UVE) vans will not be able to operate after Dec. 31.
“In the National Capital Region alone, only 26% of the total PUJs are consolidated and only 36% of the total UVEs are consolidated. This equates to 69,000 PUJ and UVE drivers and 29,000 PUJ and UVE operators who are at risk of getting unemployed,” they said.
According to the Department of Transportation, there is an estimated number of 71,395 PUJs and UVE units nationwide that have not been consolidated. This number amounts to 64,639 PUJs (43% of total PUJs) and 6,756 UVE units (35% of total UVE units).
This means that there are around 140,000 drivers and operators who struggle to consolidate. By 2024, there could be half a million Filipinos who will be economically displaced.
“Is this the “minority” Marcos Jr. is talking about? Even if they are, [they] seem [though] to think that these livelihoods do not matter at all,” PISTON said.
“Was it true when [Marcos Jr.] said that our nation will rise again? Why does it seem like we are being buried more into poverty?” Ballada stressed.
When asked if he has found an alternative source of income, he said that he might reopen their burger and skewer stall that was closed when he needed time to take care of his mother-in-law who fell sick and passed away.
“However, where am I going to get my capital for it? I am barely earning now,” Ballada said.
Not pro-people
Under franchise consolidation, a proponent of Department Order 2017-011 or the PUVMP, all operators are to surrender their franchises for consolidation into a single entity owned by a cooperative or corporation serving a specific route. LTFRB calls this “one route, one franchise, one operator.”
Consolidation will be a requirement to be able to avail of loans to purchase the modernized jeepney units.
PISTON said that this system is only feasible to financially viable cooperatives or corporations that can meet the costly modernization standards.
Small-time operators represent 80% of all PUV operators.
According to a discussion paper published in 2021 by the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies, the modernization program will intensify the struggles of the public utility jeepney drivers and operators as they will be outpaced by large corporations that can economically comply with the modernization program.
PISTON said that a transport crisis awaits the country if PUVMP pushes through.
Read: Drivers, commuters suffer from PUV ‘modernization’
Solidarity with drivers and operators
Since there are 28.5 million commuters affected by the impending PUVMP, there was support for the affected drivers and operators. “This fight is not only for drivers and operators but for makers of rugs, vulcanizing shops, small eateries and mechanics who will lose their source of income once our drivers leave our roads,” Kadamay, an urban poor alliance, said in a unified statement.
Youth organization Anakbayan shared the same sentiment: “The battle of drivers and operators for their right to decent work is also the battle of commuters for pro-people public transportation.”
“The true majority is us, commuters along with drivers and operators, who refuse to let this business scheme by foreign monopolies, local capitalists, and corrupt politicians like Marcos Jr. and Duterte push through,” they added.
Meanwhile, the transport strike gained international solidarity as the National Union of Rail Maritime and Transport Workers from the United Kingdom (RMT Union-UK) also expressed solidarity with Filipino jeepney drivers and transport groups.
“We call on the Philippine government to withdraw its end-of-year deadline, negotiate a new plan with PISTON, and provide a solution that saves the livelihoods of existing drivers, maintains an affordable public transport system and improves conditions for drivers, passengers, and the environment,” RMT Union-UK General Secretary Michael Lynch said. (DVG,DAA) 
