Tulfo laments ‘rushed’ PUV modernization

Senator Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday said he will file a resolution urging for the suspension of the government’s “rushed” Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program as he raised concerns that the program has been “poorly thought out, rushed and harmful to small jeepney drivers.”

“In a dialogue with various members of transport groups, it appeared that the PUV modernization program was not thought about, not studied, not planned and rushed,” Tulfo said.

“As a result, many of our small time citizens are deprived, especially jeepney drivers,” he added.

Tulfo said he also observed that the program was “hounded with corruption.”

To recall, Senate President Francis Escudero earlier proposed to suspend the PUV Modernization Program after seeing the problems surrounding it, saying it “was not well-thought-out and would only burden the transport sector.

“In the amount of P2.5 million each, where will the operator or the driver get the payment? No matter what computation you do, to pay the monthly installment on a PUV worth P2.5 million, even if the driver overworks and becomes a hunchback, 24 hours of driving is not enough to pay that,” Escudero said.