NextGen Day

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has dismissed allegations of corruption in its public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program made by a vice-presidential candidate (PUVMP).

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said in a statement Monday that vice presidential candidate Walden Bello’s comment during a debate on Sunday “reflects utter ignorance” about the PUVMP, which is the Duterte administration’s largest non-infrastructure project aimed at modernizing both PUVs and the public transportation system.

Bello said that Davao City’s PUV modernization has been concentrated under three bus companies and that the Davao City Coastal Road project has been marred by corruption.

In response to Bello’s charges, the DOTr stated that as of March 4, there were 1,659 transportation businesses and cooperatives operating across the country.

There are 131 consolidated operators for public utility buses alone, according to the report.

“We firmly refute Mr. Walden Bello’s allegations of PUVMP corruption. The DOTr also refuted the claim that the entire PUV system had been merged into three bus companies.

It is hoped that the consolidation of PUV operators into transportation firms and cooperatives will solve the “culture of on-street competitiveness amongst and among bus operators and drivers,” according to the report.

The DOTr stated that “PUVs are to run routes in an efficient, dependable, and systematic way for the benefit of commuters, not to compete against each other.”

Local government units (LGUs) can also use the PUVMP to conduct route rationalization studies, allowing for more seamless interconnection between routes and other modes of transportation.

Instead of a “border” system in which PUV drivers’ earnings are only based on the number of people they can transport, the PUVMP’s new transport service cooperatives and corporations would pay their drivers a salary, give benefits, and provide “guaranteed security of tenure.”

PUV transport businesses and cooperatives are granted “appropriate financing with attractive terms” as part of the PUVMP to help them update their PUVs.

“[The Landbank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines] provide loans to cover 95 percent of the vehicle’s buying cost, with the government subsidizing the remaining 5%,” according to the DOTr.

The loans must be paid back in seven years, with a six-month grace period, and at a set interest rate of 6% each year.

The agency also mentioned PUVMP social support programs that enable displaced transport personnel with skills training in order to resume the public transportation industry or enroll in various livelihood and enterprise-related courses.

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