PUV MODERNIZATION, DRIVER SUBSIDIES UP FOR SCRUTINY--POE

The planned transport modernization and long-delayed release of subsidies for jeepney drivers will be under scrutiny when the Senate tackles the proposed budget of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Sen. Grace Poe said today.

She said both issues will be the centerpiece of her questioning as soon as the Senate finance committee discusses the proposed P74.3 billion budget of the DOTr for 2019.

For one, Poe said she finds the financial assistance to jeepney drivers who will be affected by the rollout of modern jeepneys insufficient.

"Kapag nag-budget [hearing] tayo, tatanungin natin ang DOTr: Alam niyo ang binibigay ninyong [ayuda] na P80,000 per driver ay parang kulang naman yata yun... Iti-trade-in [ang sasakyan] pero parang P80,000 lang ang kapalit," Poe said in an interview after a transport summit in Manila on Monday.

Poe, who chairs the Senate public services committee, clarified that she is not against modernization but she wants to know how the program is being implemented. For her, the government needs to provide drivers the means to procure new vehicles without burdening them unjustly.

"Unang-una, hindi ako against modernization, lahat tayo gusto natin ng modernization pero dapat ayusin nila ang proseso para hindi naman mahirapan ang mga drivers. Alam mo 600,000 drivers ang apektado dito. Kapag nagkansela sila ng mga ruta, anong kapalit no'n? At papaano naman sila [drivers] makakabili ng jeep na P1.2 million hanggang P1.8 million [ang halaga] kung ang ibibigay mo lang ay P80,000 na pang-downpayment?" Poe said.

Poe had filed Senate Resolution 819 urging the Senate to conduct an inquiry into the public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization, in what progressive transport groups branded as "anti-poor" and hastily being implemented.

In her resolution, Poe noted that per audit report, only P88.5 million or 15 percent of the total P569 million budget of the DOTr for PUV Rationalization and Modernization Program has been utilized.

"Dapat sabihin din natin sa DOTr, ano ba ang arrangement sa mga bangko? Dapat ang interest rates ay mababa... Kung ang [ayuda] ay puwedeng taasan nang kaunti kung kakayanin ng gobyerno, bakit hindi?" Poe added.

In another development, Poe wondered why up to now and even after assurances from the Cabinet, that the subsidies for jeepney drivers under the tax reform package have not been released in full.

"Kailangan din nating malaman kung papaano ba nila ipinamamahagi ang mga fuel vouchers na parang walang nakakatanggap, at kung may makakatanggap man, 25 percent lang," she added.

Asked if she will call for separate hearings on the DOTr issuances as regards PUV modernization, Poe assured: "Alam mo sa Wednesday may hearing pa nga tayo sa mga paliparan. Tapos marami na talagang magiging okupado para dito sa budget. So kung puwedeng isabay sa budget o magkakaroon ng hiwalay na hearing, lalo na do'n sa mga Memorandum Circular na bagong ipinatutupad ng DOTr...ay malalaman natin..."