By Gail Momblan | Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — Providing safe and convenient transportation is a public responsibility of drivers and operators, the top official of the Land Transportation and Franchising Board (LTFRB) said on Wednesday.
Lawyer Martin Delgra III, LTFRB chairman, said public transport drivers and operators should work with the government in providing the public with convenient and safe transportation through the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
Delgra graced the inauguration and launching of the modernized public utility jeepneys (PUJ) at Iloilo City Alliance Operators and Drivers Transport Cooperative (ICAODTC) office and garage in Sambag village in this city’s Jaro district.
Seven of the newly-inaugurated modernized PUJs are expected to ply four initial routes here starting next week, Delga said.
“This program of the government that started in January will continue,” Delgra said in an interview.
Addressing the drivers and operators, Delgra said the implementation of the PUJ modernization will continue despite the opposition of some transport groups.
“We in the government are pushing for this because we think and we believe that this is good for the country. As you (drivers and operators) embrace the modernization program, you embrace the public responsibility to provide public service to our common stakeholder who is there outside waiting for a ride,” he said.
Delgra said the modernized PUJs address the standards on safety of the riding public as it has Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) and dash cameras.
Compared to other jeepneys, the modernized PUJs are more spacious and can provide extra convenience to the riding public.
Delgra added that the modernized jeepneys are environmental-friendly vehicles that can help in the implementation of the Clean Air Act of 1999.
Francisco Milla Jr., Regional Executive Director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Western Visayas, said the modernized PUJs uses the Euro 4 standard.
The Euro 4 standard can lessen the pollution coming from vehicles as it reduces the toxic sulphur by 450 parts per million (ppm); reduces benzene by 4 percent; and reduces carbon dioxide emission that contributes to climate change, he said.
“The Clean Air Act 1999, which is one of the priority agenda of the DENR, will finally be implemented,” he said.
Delgra lauded President Rodrigo Duterte for the implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program that drivers and operators “had long been waiting for.”
Aside from Iloilo, the modernization program will be implemented in all regions in the country, he said.
