In staging last Tuesday’s protest rally/transport holiday, jeepney operators and drivers acknowledged that theirs may end up a sunset industry in the coming years.
In a radio interview, Greg Perez, secretary general of the militant transport group Piston, echoed the statement by Ryan Benjamin Yu who chairs the Cebu Integrated Transport Cooperative (Citrasco) that they in fact support the entry of a modern mass transport system.
“But if we are to get buses, we should get those made in the country, not those purchased from Europe. We are capable of making our own buses,” Perez said, while insisting that jeepneys remain a viable option for mass transport.
The transport groups were protesting against a draft memorandum of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) that seeks to phase out passenger jeepneys 15 years old and above.
While the LTFRB insisted that it was only a draft memo and that consultations have yet to be made with the transport sector, transport groups don’t see it that way and preemptively held a protest rally/transport holiday to air their grievance.
What set them off was their suspicion that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) failed to consult them on the routes to be taken by the SM MyBus units that were underserved by the existing passenger jeepney and bus operators.
They held rallies and denounced the agency’s failure to consult them. They repeated their opposition to the MyBus units while reaching out to SM management, asking the retail giant to partner with them to operate the new buses.
But the positive public response to the entry of Europe-made wide-bodies MyBus units showed to transport groups that the people have had enough of post-war , dilapidated jeepneys whose drivers stop whenever and wherever they want to pick up and unload passengers.
No hearing was held yet to gauge public sentiment on the bus fare, which starts at P25.
The best guage is the market, and public patronage.If the rate is unfriendly, passengers will show it.
Nevertheless, the riding public has made its sentiment to transport groups unmistakably clear: people want to ride in comfort and convenience in a modern, safe vehicle.
They don’t want to be squeezed into every inch of space inside the bench seat of a small, smelly jeepney if there’s another option to move about.
That is the reality that Citrasco chairman Yu admitted will happen in the next few years.
Moving forward, the drivers have to retool their skills. Some may be qualified or disciplined enough to drive the new buses and continue to serve the public.
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