By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Bacolod City has the lowest number of consolidated public utility vehicle (PUV) operators in Western Visayas for the modernization program, the Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators and Drivers, Inc. (BACOD) said.

BACOD president Rudy Catedral said only 23 percent of jeepney operators in the city have decided to consolidate, while 77 percent have not consolidated.

Catedral said they still refused to undergo consolidation which is in accordance with the PUV modernization program.

He said that those who have chosen to consolidate do not want to be part of a corporation.

However, Catedral explained that they do not oppose the PUV modernization program as some operators may choose to rehabilitate their vehicles without the need to join a transport cooperative.

Earlier this month, BACOD protested at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Bacolod after some members received word that they would be apprehended following the expiry of their traditional jeepneys’ provisional authority last December 31, 2023.

The LTO in Western Visayas clarified that they had not received orders to begin apprehending unconsolidated traditional jeepneys.

Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez gave assurance to Catedral that BACOD could continue operating.

Benitez also requested the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Western Visayas to allow traditional jeepney operators to continue their operations and not to apprehend them./DGB, WDJ