Commuters will once again brace for another round of transport strike as transport group Manibela announced that it will stage a protest rally on Tuesday — the latest in a string of protests to oppose the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.

This comes as the Office of Transportation Cooperatives on Sunday appealed to public utility vehicle operators and drivers who failed to consolidate before the deadline to stop plying their routes beginning 1 February to avoid conflicts with apprehending authorities.

OTC chairperson Andy Ortega was referring to the jeepneys that would be tagged as “colorum” or illegal after their operators failed to meet the 31 December 2023 consolidation deadline as part of the PUV Modernization Program.

He stressed that drivers and operators of unconsolidated PUV units would not ultimately lose their livelihoods as they can still join or be absorbed by other cooperatives or consolidated PUV entities.

Manibela president Mar Valbuena disclosed that the group will stage a transport protest Caravan that will converge at the University of the Philippines grounds towards a picket rally at the Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City.

He added that another transport group — the Pinag-kaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators or PISTON — will also join them in holding the protest.

Valbuena stressed that they are urging the national government to stop the implementation of the PUVMP, adding that there will be thousands of them as other organizations from CALABARZON and Central Luzon Regions will also be joining the protest caravan.

In a related development, two members of the House of Representatives are set to appeal to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to extend the deadline of implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.

Santa Rosa City Lone District Representative Dan Fernandez has motioned on Wednesday for the committee to make such a resolution which was seconded but Committee Chairperson and Antipolo Second District Representative Romeo Acop said the motion will be discussed next hearing.

To recall, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board last week said unconsolidated jeepney operators who failed to join existing cooperatives or corporations will be tagged as “colorum” after 31 January if they continue to ply their routes and eventually will be apprehended.

LTFRB chairperson Attorney Teofilo Guadiz III, said those who will not comply with the consolidation requirement past the end of the January extension given by the board will be strictly banned from plying their routes.

“All those who have not consolidated are classified as colorum, so they will be apprehended,” said Guadiz, adding that a show cause order will be issued to unconsolidated operators within the month of January.

Meanwhile, Ortega assured commuters that the fare on modern jeepneys will not go over P30 and reiterated that claims that jeepney fares could spike to P40 to P50 have no basis.

“In the six years of our historical data regarding [the] minimum fare for our modern and traditional jeepneys, in 2017, when the modern jeepney came in, the minimum fare of traditional [jeepney] was P9, the modern [jeepney] was P11; we have a P2 difference,” Ortega said.