OPENING STATEMENT
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICES HEARING--JEEPNEY MODERNIZATION

Good afternoon, Madam Chair, fellow members of this Committee on Public Services and all our resource persons.

As early in the 1990s, there were efforts to modernize jeepneys. It was in 2017 that the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) was launched by the Department of Transportation, with the goal of making the country's public transportation system efficient and environmentally friendly. The program calls for the phasing-out of jeepneys, buses and other Public Utility Vehicles (PUVs) that are at least 15 years old and replacing them with safer, more comfortable and more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

It is a move towards changing the landscape of Philippine public transportation. The program's objective is to provide comfortable, accessible, reliable, environment-friendly, and sustainable public transportation. However, despite the prospect of the modernization program to address problems of traffic congestion, reduced road capacity, inefficiency in PUV operations and air pollution, among others, many drivers and operators show strong resistance to the adoption of the program in particular.

That is why, I join the Committee in identifying the actual problems and coming up with the needed solutions to urgently address the concerns raised by the stakeholders. This is of utmost importance because it involves the convenience and safety of the commuting public and the livelihood of members of the public transport industry. Thank you, Madam Chair.