By Junex Doronio
MANILA — Transport group Manibela on Friday (23 Dec 2023) said it planned to file next week a petition for intervention before the Supreme Court (SC) in support of an earlier bid of PISTON (Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide) to block the government’s Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) modernization program.
Various transport groups have strongly opposed the revocation of franchises of those who will not register for consolidation by December 31 this year.
“Narinig ko kasi yung pronouncement ni President BBM na, hindi na niya kailangang tingnan yung 30 percent kasi 70 percent na daw (ang nakapag-consolidate), ayon sa datos ng DOTr. Eh siyempre kung titingnan naman natin dito sa aral ng ating Diyos, na dito sa Parable of the Lost Sheep, na hindi niya tiningnan yung 99 na masunurin o matuwid, kundi yung isa. Napakahalaga na yung isa para mabuo,” remarked Stop and Go Coalition president Zaldy Ping-ay in an interview withTeleRadyo Serbisyo.
He was drawing parallelism in a biblical verse following the pronouncement of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. that the December 31 deadline for the consolidation of PUVs would no longer be extended.
He bared that the Stop and Go Coalition was writing a letter to the President asking him to consider extending the deadline for franchise consolidation under the PUV Modernization Program.
“Yun lang naman ang gusto naming ipaabot kay Pangulong BBM, para yung kanyang slogan na uniting the nation. So paano tayo magkakaroon ng unifying the nation kung may maiiwan?” Ping-ay asked.
(IAMIGO/MNM)
