TINIYAK nitong Martes ng Drivers United for Mass Progress and Equal Rights-Philippine Taxi Drivers Association (DUMPER-PTDA) Party List Group na hindi magkakaroon ng “PUJ phase-out” o traditional jeepneys hanggang December 31 ngayong taon.

Ipinaliwanag ni DUMPER-PTDA Party List Congresswoman Claudine Diana Bautista-Lim na klinaro o niliwanag mismo ni Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista na hindi ibig sabihin ng “consolidation” ay nangangahulugan na rin ito ng pagwawaksi o phase-out ng mga “traditional jeepneys.

“No less than Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista clarified that consolidation does not mean the end of the line for traditional jeepneys. The deadline set is for operators and drivers to either form or join cooperatives or incorporate themselves into collective juridical entities,” sabi ni Bautista-Lim.

Idinagdag pa ni Bautista-Lim, Vice-Chairperson ng House Committee on Transportation, na maging ang mensahe ni Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. ay napaka-linaw. Matapos nitong ipahayag na ang “Modernization Program” ng Public Utility Vehicles (PUV) ay kinakailangang ma-improve.

Binigyang diin pa ng kongresista na bilang mga naglilingkod sa mamamayan, sensitibo sila at nararamdaman nila ang kalagayan ng transport sector. Kung saan, layunin din nila na tiyakin na napapangalagaan ang kagalingan o “welfare” hindi lamang ng mga operators, PUJ drivers. Kundi maging ang kapakanan ng mga commuters o ang rding public.

“We in government are sensitive to the plight of the transport sector. We are after the welfare not only of the operators and drivers of PUVs but the riding public as well. Contrary to misinformation. Consolidation does not equate to phasing out traditional jeepneys,” ayon pa kay Bautista Lim.