Transport groups oppose old vehicle phase-out

Transport groups are in an uproar over the decision of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to finally implement a program to phase out passenger vehicles aged 15 years and older.

Claire dela Fuente, Integrated Metro Bus Operators Association president, questioned the LTFRB’s timing.

"It is not yet the time. We are still in the middle of a very hard crisis. This would be suicide if we do that. Who will invest in the country?" she asked.

Boy Vargas, national chairman of the Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, said the phaseout would cause difficulties for drivers and operators who "will be losing their only means of living."

LTFRB Chairwoman Ma. Elena Bautista said Thursday that the government will be seriously implementing an order issued by the Department of Transportation and Communications in 2002 that bases the age of a vehicle on its date of manufacture, not its registration as a public utility vehicle with the agency and the Land Transportation Office.

Vehicles found to be aged 15 years and older can no longer have their franchises renewed by the LTFRB when the campaign starts.

Bautista, however, clarified that the phaseout program only covers buses, not jeeps.

"I did not say anything about jeeps," she said.

Bautista said that based on initial figures, 90 percent of buses stand to be phased out because they are more than 15 years old.

She noted that the program will not be implemented anytime soon since the LTFRB wishes to receive input from commuters on whether or not to phase out these buses.

"I want to consult with the commuters ... environmentalists and of course, the bus operators themselves," Bautista said, adding that the operators called for further discussion of the phaseout program before it is implemented.