PISTON members protested on January 19 at the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to reiterate their demand to immediately junk the bogus Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program and the restoration of the five-year individual franchise. Concurrent with the protest, drivers and operators who refused to undergo consolidation filed en masse for the renewal of their individual franchises.

According to PISTON’s estimate, around 500,000 drivers and operators have already lost their livelihood because of the failed “modernization” program. There were 300,000 PUJs nationwide prior to the program’s implementation. Only about 128,000 jeepneys remain operating now, based on DOTr’s own figures.

“The program is a failure because it destroyed the supply of transportation,” PISTON said. It added that forcing drivers and operators to buy overpriced minibus units to replace their jeeps buried them in debt. Many major cooperatives have already shut down or now operate on a limited scale. PISTON denounced the bogus program as a “quagmire of debt.”

“Vince Dizon and Marcos Jr themselves admitted that the modernization is a failure. Yet they continue it because they are beholden to the interests of foreign auto manufacturers and those seeking to monopolize the transport system,” the group declared.

The protest also denounced the state for its continuing destruction of people’s livelihoods and social services, PISTON said. The group called on all those who refused to consolidate, those forced to consolidate, and those who want to break away from their fake and corrupt cooperatives to come to PISTON and join the mass filing.