The city council here has asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for an extension of deadline for public utility jeepney (PUJ) consolidation process in relation to the modernization program.
Councilor Dindo Ramos, chair of the committee on transportation, said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has implemented the modernization program this year and deadlines were set for all PUJ operators in Bacolod City owning an aggregate of more than 4,000 PUJ units.
The DOTR has set the deadline on 31 December 2020 for PUJ operators to consolidate all units into either a cooperative or corporation to be able to operate as public utility vehicle.
Ramos said most have partially complied with the initial requirement for consolidation and registration but due to the pandemic, the operators were not able to finish the process.
Based on the records of LTFRB-Western Visayas, only about 10 percent of the total units in Bacolod City has made their application processed with their office.
The councilor said “the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic this year has affected everyone, and most especially the transport sector where all kinds of mass transportation were suspended during several enhanced community quarantine lockdown periods imposed in the city”.