The Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court's denial of the petition challenging the legality of the public utility vehicle modernization program.

"This makes the LTFRB and the entire leadership of the Department of Transportation very happy because from our point of view, the court recognizes the importance of the PUV MP in our advancement and modernization," LTFRB Chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III said during the Bagong Pilipinas press briefing at Malacañang.

Guadiz said the petition was junked by the High Court as the petitioner were not able to follow the proper rules in lodging petitions.

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh, the SC en banc denied the petition for certiorari and prohibition filed by Bayyo Association, Incorporated and its president, Anselmo Perweg. The petition for certiorari is a legal remedy used to ask a court to review a decision previously made by another body.

The SC explained on Thursday, 7 March, that the petition was junked due to the petitioners’ lack of legal standing and violation of the hierarchy of courts. The Philippine judiciary, like any other judicial system in the world, observes a hierarchy – the Supreme Court is on top being the court of last resort.

"The petition must first be brought to the lowest court with jurisdiction, followed by appeals, until the case reaches the High Court, the SC said. According to rules, as noted by the SC, noncompliance to this rule is a ground for dismissal," the SC decision read.

"So, their (Bayyo Philippines) only remedy is to re-file the case back to the trial courts," Guadiz suggested.

On the claims that PUVMP has a bad effect on the lives of jeepney drivers and operators Guadiz said, "the 80 percent compliance it gets from most of the drivers and operators is a testament that the modernization program is acceptable to them."

"They (drivers and operators) that we need to modernize our jeepneys to make them safe and comfortable and accessible public transportation, and the only way to do that is to modernize our transportation system," Guadiz explained.

On the remaining two petitions against the modernization at SC, Guadiz expressed confidence that it will also be junked.