Panayam kay Jesus Ferdinand Ortega, Chairman, DOTr-Office of Transportation Cooperatives (January 1, 2024) | UB
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Transcript
00:00 Meanwhile, in other news, the deadline is over for the POV operators to consolidate or join the cooperatives or corporations.
00:07 Those who did not reach the deadline, will they be able to pass?
00:11 We will be able to interview the chairman of the DOTR, Office of Transportation Cooperatives, Jesus Ferdinand Ortega.
00:18 Good morning, Mr. Ortega. Happy New Year.
00:21 Susan, good morning. Good morning to you and happy new year.
00:26 How many consolidated POVs have been completed after other operators reached the deadline yesterday?
00:34 Nationwide, we are at 70% more or less. Nationwide.
00:40 But here in Metro Manila or NCR, there are a lot of operators who completed the operation.
00:45 And maybe as of now, we will reach 40%.
00:49 But the final count will be counted by the LPFRB and maybe after a few days.
00:56 We already know the final number.
00:58 But definitely, in my office, in the LPFRB, the number of people or groups in the past few days is continuous.
01:06 Maybe some are confused as to who can travel.
01:11 Starting today, Mr. Ortega, please clarify, who can travel starting today?
01:18 First of all, those who can travel, even those who consolidated, of course, they can travel continuously.
01:25 Those who did not consolidate, 60% or less, those who consolidated, they will be allowed to travel for the next 30 days, the whole month of January.
01:37 But I heard that other groups who did not consolidate, I see on social media,
01:43 they are traveling continuously to support our needs for our computers.
01:51 So you're saying that until the whole month of January, those who did not consolidate can travel.
01:57 But after January, what will happen if they did not consolidate?
02:03 Definitely, those who did not consolidate, last day is yesterday,
02:08 the operators who did not consolidate their franchise cannot travel, but we will give them a due process, 30 days.
02:21 So the next thing we need to do, especially in my office, the drivers of operators who did not consolidate,
02:32 definitely we can help them travel, the drivers, to the operators who will be in charge of those who did not consolidate.
02:42 So that will be our next process.
02:44 The answer here is you need to consolidate. But sir, the PISTO group that is being criticized, they will not apply for consolidation.
02:55 If that is how they are being criticized and it is already a new thing, what will happen to them and their members?
03:02 The two groups, PISTO and the other group, it seems that they have been in a decision for a long time that they will not be included in the consolidation.
03:12 So that will happen to their operators. They cannot travel because they did not consolidate.
03:19 But the drivers, they can be included in the consolidation. They will have a chance to work with the operators who consolidated,
03:31 who are included in the routes that did not consolidate.
03:35 So what this means is, for example, PISTON, the group that they don't want, but they have members who want to consolidate
03:43 and they don't want their livelihood to be affected, they can move to other operators that are not PISTON members.
03:49 Yes. Let's remember that the operators are the ones who consolidate. They are the owners of the franchise.
03:57 The other story is the drivers, who are more. The drivers in that route, for example, the operator did not consolidate,
04:07 then there will be a special permit or rather later on, that route will be given to the consolidator.
04:14 So the driver will be the driver of the new operator.
04:20 So if this group PISTON, no, it's a big group, let's admit that it's a big group, they have a lot of members.
04:28 How can we be sure that our public transportation will not be affected if someone is still involved in our PUV modernization?
04:37 Let's be clear. More than 70 percent have consolidated. The majority have consolidated.
04:45 We will check the number of our friends in PISTON.
04:49 The LTFRB, in the next few days, will give a special permit to those who consolidated so they can travel to the routes that did not consolidate.
05:03 So definitely, the process is continuous.
05:07 The good thing here is that those who did consolidate will be able to travel immediately.
05:14 And then later on, it will be formal that a route will be given to the consolidator nearby.
05:22 So that is the process that we will do.
05:24 So it means that our passengers should not worry, for example, if they know that the route they are driving did not consolidate,
05:34 because it will be filled by the groups that consolidated, they will be given a special permit by the LTFRB.
05:41 That's right. That's why it's our obligation to the DOTR and LTFRB to speed up the process so that those who consolidated can travel to those routes.
05:52 You're right.
05:54 Gino Ortega, the Supreme Court is commenting on the DOTR's petition to stop the PUV modernization.
06:01 Does the DOTR have an answer to this?
06:04 As far as I know, the DOTR legal is continuously meeting with the LTFRB.
06:11 So maybe in the next few days, because there are only 10 days to give the position, the DOTR will give the position to the Supreme Court.
06:20 For example, Gino Ortega, this is my last question.
06:23 For example, the places that did not consolidate, so they will be chosen.
06:28 Are the provinces and the government's officials ready to give free vehicles to the affected passengers?
06:40 In the provinces, the consolidation is increasing. It's not a problem there.
06:46 Here in NCR, we have already reached out to the DILG, to the LGUs, MMDA, PNP.
06:54 We have a new communication to provide free vehicles or rescue vehicles so that our LGUs can dispatch anytime to the places that need help.
07:08 So we are running to continue the PUV modernization even though there are groups that are rallying and asking not to continue it.
07:18 We respect their position. The President's order is to continue it.
07:24 So we at the DOTR will continue the program and we at the OTC, whatever we can help the drivers, we are here all the way to help them.
07:35 Thank you very much, Office of Transportation Cooperative's Chairman Jesus Ferdinand Ortega.
07:41 Good morning and Happy New Year to you.
07:43 You too, Susan. Thank you.
07:45 Thank you.
07:47 [News broadcast]
07:59 [Music]