Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio is unyielding in her position to exempt Davao City from the nationwide implementation of the jeepney modernization program.
“It is very unfair to require the drivers and operators to comply with the jeepney modernization considering the huge amount of money needed,” she said.
“Besides, six months later or third quarter of next year we will tell them to sell their units for scraps or they will be prohibited to run along some routes, ”she said.
Duterte-Carpio said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) told her that the High Priority Bus System will cover also the jeepney modernization program but admitted the explanation was unclear.
“Ang ingon nako sa ilaha nga bahala’g wala mo kasabot sa ilaha basta nakasabot man kaha mo sa akong punto, kasabot man daw sila (I told them that it’s ok for me that I do not understand what you are talking about as long as you understand my point and they said yes),” she said.
For Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chair Martin Delgra, the matter was already clarified. “What happened is we will make it clear that the modernization on our public transportation will be consistent with the PUVMP (Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Project),” he said.
He said DOTr along with the Asian Development Bank conducted a meeting with the Davao City government to clarify the public transportation modernization in the city.
He said the DOTr and ADB will be in the city until today to finalize the implementation of the project in the city.
Delgra said this will be followed by a fact-finding by the ADB as the program moves forward.
