New P12-b Cavite road eyed

Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. said it is set to submit by February next year a proposal to the Toll Regulatory Board to build a P12-billion expressway linking Kawit and Rosario in Cavite province.

“We’re finishing up the feasibility study. We will complete it [feasibility study] January. And then, we will submit business proposal to TRB in February,” Cavitex president and chief executive Luigi Bautista said.

“If TRB approves it, we will start completing detailed engineering design and then we go to implementation,” he added.

The Segment 5 of Cavitex is a 7.6-kilometer road that will link Kawit to Noveleta and Noveleta to Rosario in Cavite.

The company earlier earmarked P1.7 billion in capital expenditures to expand the Manila-Cavite Expressway.

Cavitex earlier tapped FF Cruz Construction Inc. to construct the first phase of the Cavitex C5 South Link, which will connect C5 and Merville, Parañaque by way of a flyover.

The second phase will link Merville and Cavite and cost P9.5 billion.

Cavitex C5 South Link will allow residents from Cavite, Las Piñas and parts of Parañaque to avoid Edsa and take a direct link to and from C5 to Cavitex.

Bautista said the new expressway, which was expected to be completed in 2019, would add 40,000 to 45,000 vehicle traffic per day, on top of the 130,000 vehicles currently using Cavitex.

C5 South Link will ultimately connect with R1 Expressway (Coastal Road) and provide fast, safe and convenient travel for motorists going to and from Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite and for Paranaque residents in Multinational, Moonwalk and Merville villages.

The new expressway will not only decongest the Parañaque villages, but will also provide easier travel from Taguig, Makati, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City and other northern areas to Manila, Las Piñas and Cavite.

It will also provide relief for vehicles using the congested Edsa and C5 Road arteries of the metropolis.

When completed, the expressway will provide a seamless connection to Cavitex road network and to Cavite-Laguna Expressway slated for completion in 2020.

The new C5 Link is envisioned to spur further economic development in Parañaque and in Cavite and Laguna provinces by providing a safe and convenient link from the central and northern parts of Metro Manila to the high-growth industrial and residential centers in Southern Tagalog.

C5 link construction in full swing

Cavitex Infrastructure Corp.(CIC) yesterday said the construction of the 7.7-kilometer, six-lane C-5 South Link expressway, which will connect C-5 road to the Manila-Cavite Toll expressway (Cavitex), is in full swing.

Mark Villar, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary, together with senior DPWH officials yesterday inspected the progress of the construction along the CP Garcia Monument, C-5, a stone’s throw away from the Bicutan East service road.

“The benefits of this urgent infrastructure project will far outweigh the temporary inconvenience during construction. Upon completion, this toll road will speed up the commute of motorists, and travelers from Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite by allowing them to directly cross over the South Luzon Expressway and Skyway into C5 Taguig City,” Villar said.

About 40,000 to 45,000 vehicles are seen to benefit from the C-5 South Link and potentially decongest EDSA when it starts commercial operations.

 “We are all very excited and proud that we have brought this project into construction stage. The first phase is 2.2 KM long including a flyover above the South Luzon Expressway and Skyway from C-5 Road in Taguig to Merville in Sucat, Parañaque, and costs about P2.5 billion,” said Luigi Bautista, CIC president.

The expressway’s second phase, from Merville to Cavitex (Coastal road), is estimated to cost around P7.5 billion.

Completion of the project is targeted in June 2019. This will be operated as an open toll collection system.

“C5-South Link is expected to benefit those coming from Cavite, Las Piñas and parts of Parañaque by having a direct access to and from C5. It will eventually provide a seamless connection to the 45-kilometer Cavite-Laguna Expressway which is under construction,” said Rodrigo Franco, Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) president.

“We take pride in knowing that our organization contributes to the government’s Build, Build, Build program under Secretary Villar’s leadership,” Franco added.

MPTC is a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

Aside from the Cavitex network of toll roads, MPTC operates the North Luzon expressway, Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway and the soon to be constructed Cebu-Cordova Link expressway.

C-5 to Cavitex road works in full swing, says MPTC

Construction of the C-5 South Link Expressway, which will connect C-5 Road to the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (CAVITEX), is now in full swing, according to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) unit Metro Pacific Tollways South.

Metro Pacific Tollways South president Luigi Bautista said the first phase of the project covering 2.2-kilometers (km), including a flyover above the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and Skyway from C-5 Road in Taguig to Merville in Sucat, Parañaque, with a cost of about P2.5 billion, is now in the construction stage.

“We are all very excited and proud that we have brought this project into construction stage,” he said.

The second phase, which would cover Merville to Cavitex (Coastal Road), meanwhile, is estimated to cost around P7.5 billion.

Completion of the project is targeted in June 2019.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, who conducted an inspection of the construction works yesterday, said the project offers many benefits, outweighing the temporary inconvenience during construction.

“Upon completion, this toll road will speed up the commute of motorists, and travelers from Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite by allowing them to directly cross over the SLEX and Skyway into C-5 Taguig City. About 40,000 to 45,000 vehicles are seen to benefit from the C-5 South Link and potentially decongest EDSA when it starts commercial operations,” he said.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) president Rodrigo Franco said the C-5 South Link would not only provide direct access to and from C-5 for those coming from Cavite, Las Piñas and parts of Parañaque, but would also eventually provide a seamless connection to the 45-km Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAx) which is under construction.

The CALAx which was bagged by MPIC unit MPCALA Holdings Inc. under the public-private partnership program during the previous administration, will cover a four-lane expressway to link CAVITEX and SLEX.

MPTC is the tollway arm of MPIC.

Aside from the Cavitex network of toll roads, MPTC operates the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.

It is also working on other tollway projects such as the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road, NLEX-Harbor Link Segment 10 and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway.

‘World class’ Clark airport terminal breaks ground

In Photo: House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez (center) leads other officials in the groundbreaking of the new Clark airport-terminal building in the northeast section of the 2,300-hectare Clark civil aviation complex in Pampanga on Wednesday.
CLARK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT—A new airport terminal building with more than 100,000 square meters with an annual capacity for 8 million passengers broke ground here on Wednesday.

The new terminal building, located in the northeast portion of this 2,300-hectare civil aviation complex, is described as the first of the Duterte administration’s hybrid infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program. A hybrid model means the government will build the infrastructure using its own funds and then the operations and maintenance will be bid out to the private sector.

Leading the groundbreaking rites were House Speaker Pantaleon  D. Alvarez, former president and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Second District of Pampanga, Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, Pampanga Gov. Lilia G. Pineda and Tarlac Gov. Susan A. Yap, Sens. Richard J. Gordon and Joseph Victor E. Ejercito and Bases Conversion Development Authority President and CEO Vivencio Dizon.

The hybrid project is considered the fastest to be implemented by the national government since its approval by the National Economic and Development Authority board in June.

Megawide-GMR won the bid to build the terminal after going through “a very stringent and transparent” bidding process monitored by the International Finance Corp. of the World Bank.

Megawide-GMR bested four other bidders for the design, engineering and construction of the new Clark airport terminal building.

On December 14 Megawide-GMR submitted the lowest financial proposal for the airport expansion project at P9.36 billion.

During his speech, Tugade noted there were heavy rains on Tuesday night, but good weather prevailed as soon as the sun came up in the morning, making it a beautiful day, which might well be the “blessing” bestowed on the new terminal building.

Tugade said efforts requesting to start the improvement and renovation of the Clark international airport only fell on deaf ears in the past. But now it gives new life to the plans and the desires of the Capampangans from all over Central Luzon to have a premier  international gateway here.

Tugade added  that no later than January 6, 2018, the government will mobilize to start the construction of the Tutuban to Malolos portion of the rail project and the entire stretch from Tutuban to Clark will be fully completed during the term of President Duterte. He said the rail project is tied to the full development of the Clark airport.

He also said that before the end of next year, the government will start making a reality the rail connectivity between Clark and Subic. The third project connected to the Clark airport is the so-called New Clark City in Tarlac, which will augur well the development and growth of the entire country.

The CIA is envisioned to be Asia’s next premier gateway and is expected to help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport  in Manila. It is one of the high-impact projects under the government’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program and compliments the Clark Freeport Zone, which is being developed as the next investment center in Asia.

Gov’t awards Clark airport deal

Showcase of speed of hybrid PPP scheme, gov’t commitment to boost infrastructure

The Duterte administration awarded on Tuesday a contract to design and build a new passenger terminal for the Clark International Airport in Pampanga, a showcase of both its commitment to upgrade crucial transport infrastructure and the speed by which hybrid public-private partnership (PPP) deals could move.

The New Clark International Airport Terminal project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded to a venture between Megawide Construction Corp. and India’s GMR Infrastructure yesterday. The new terminal would triple capacity at Clark Airport to 12 million passenger annually by 2020.

The EPC deal was rolled out last August by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

The BCDA, in a statement yesterday, called it the “fastest” PPP to be auctioned by the national government. The project, which was given the go-ahead by President Duterte last June, is slated to have its groundbreaking event today.

The Clark Airport expansion project is the first under the administration’s hybrid PPP format. Under this scheme, the government will pay for the construction of the terminal while the private sector will later be invited to bid for the operations and maintenance (O&M) component.

Jake Bingcang, chair of the BCDA special bids and awards committee, said earlier that they hoped to award the O&M contract by March 2018.

It should be noted that the new Clark Airport terminal EPC deal is relatively less complex than previous PPPs since it did not yet include any O&M. The O&M was typically bundled in with similar PPP deals during the Aquino administration.

Nevertheless, the administration wanted the auction to display how fast it could launch and award contracts via the hybrid PPP route since the procurement process is often cited as a cause of delay for infrastructure projects.

The BCDA kept a tight deadline, accepting bids for the construction of the new passenger terminal last Dec. 5. With the awarding on Monday, the entire process of evaluating, opening technical and financial offers was compressed to two weeks.

The Duterte administration wants to expand Clark Airport, which it sees as a viable alternative to congestion in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It is also moving forward with a Japan-funded railway system that will link Manila and Clark by 2022.

Megawide-GMR, which operates and is expanding the Mactan Cebu International Airport, earlier submitted the best offer to build a terminal with a capacity of eight million passengers a year at the least cost to government.

It bested four other groups, including large state-owned companies from China. Megawide-GMR offered P9.36 billion, about 25 percent below the governments’ ceiling price of P12.55 billion. This was lower than the offers of Tokwing Construction Corp. and China Machinery Engineering Corp. (P12.45 billion), China State Construction Engineering Corp. Ltd. (P12.298 billion), China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd. (P11.73 billion) and Sinohydro Corp. Ltd. (P10.68 billion).

Read more: http://business.inquirer.net/242786/govt-awards-clark-airport-deal#ixzz51oTdlNb4
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Megawide-GMR Consortium to expand Clark Airport

Megawide Construction and India-based airport operator GMR Infrastructure have won a contract for the expansion of Clark International Airport in the Philippines.

The contract was awarded by the Philippines Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the Department of Transportation.

The contract covers the engineering, procurement, and construction of a new terminal. The airport will see an additional eight million passengers each year from the new terminal building.

Construction of the Clark International Airport’s new terminal building will be a public-private partnership (PPP) project. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

The government estimated the project to cost PHP 12.5 billion (US$249 million). However, the Megawide-GMR partnership won the contract by offering the lowest financial proposal at PHP 9.36 billion (US$185 million).

Other bidders for the Clark Airport expansion project include China State Construction Engineering Corporation, China Harbour Engineering Company, and the consortium of Tokwing Construction Corporation and China Machinery Engineering Corporation.

“Megawide-GMR was declared as the bidder with the ‘lowest calculated responsive bid’, after passing the post-qualification evaluation phase of the competitive bidding— besting four other bidders for the design, engineering and construction of the new Clark terminal building,” said the BCDA in a statement.

The expansion is one of the high-impact projects under the Duterte administration’s ambitious ‘Build, Build, Build Infrastructure Programme’. Other projects include the Subic-Clark Cargo Railway, Manila-Clark Railway, and the New Clark City.

Manila a ‘dead city’ in 25 years

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Roa Duterte pitched for the development of other cities outside the capital region, because Manila will likely be a “dead city” in 25 years.

In a speech during a food festival in Pampanga last Thursday, as reported by Dateline Philippines last December 7, President Duterte emphasized the importance of developing industrial cities as he pointed out that Metro Manila would no longer be a viable destination for investment.

With Manila’s apparent hopeless situation, Duterte said the only way to fix the area is to completely overhaul it.

“Manila, I think will be, in about 25 years, a dead city. It will start to decay and there is no way that we can rehab the place,” Duterte said. “You have to disperse the crowd, limit the factories at some time in the future but not really [now] for that would be too early. About 10 years from now, they should close Manila and start to develop [other areas].”

But to do this, Duterte made note that the country’s mass transportation system would first need to be improved.

“So Manila is no longer an option for industries. They have to go to the provinces. But the most important thing is there has to be a transport, whether mass or if there are too many cars, then you have to expand the highways,” Duterte said.

Under its ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program, the Philippine government is rolling out P8 trillion-worth of road networks and other infrastructures to enhance the mobility in different parts of the country.

Some of these projects include the Mega Manila Subway, the Mindanao Railway Project, Malolos-Clark Railway Project, the LRT-1 North Extension Project, and the expansion of the Clark International Airport.

In support of President Duterte’s call for decentralization, Senator Grace Poe warned that Metro Manila “may have no future if we do not act now.”

“We should seriously consider and push for outward development to decongest Metro Manila for the medium to long term but right now we have to jumpstart that initiative,” Poe said in a statement the following Friday, December 8, 2017.

Poe also expressed optimism that the Duterte government’s “Build, Build, Build” program would contribute to easing the traffic situation in the capital region.

“Perhaps with the ‘Build, Build, Build’ projects of President Duterte like the Mega Manila subway, the completion of NLEX, SLEX, etc., we can see a marked improvement in the near future,” Poe said.

In the same speech, President Duterte also stressed the need to “improve the manufacturing side” of the agricultural sector to propel the country’s economic growth. He noted, however, that a lasting development must come alongside with peace.

“We have to improve the manufacturing site of the agricultural sector. That is the only way we can improve things. But we have to have law or peace there,” Duterte said.

Then, he took a swipe at the communist rebels for allegedly collecting revolutionary taxes in agricultural areas.

With the country’s agricultural sector “lagging behind, almost to a fault,” Duterte also pointed out that the only way to boost it is by providing more lands to peasants.

He assured that he will continue to push for the government’s agrarian reform program and would not break his campaign promise of helping the landless tillers.

In conclusion, President Duterte said, “The only way to improve it really is to give more lands, if you can afford it. I am for land reform. I am for… isa ‘yan sa mga sinabi ko sa kampanya (it’s one of my campaign promises) and I will not renege on it.”

***

Incidentally, Congress has approved President Duterte’s request for extension of Martial Law in Mindanao until the end of 2018.

Just before this happened, the President voiced his feelings about his job during a Christmas Party for Malacañang reporters. He told them that “it gets to be lonelier and lonelier every day in this job. It gets to be scary to make final decisions, and that he had to make choices that will make people happy or sad.”

***

Quote of the Day: “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”, or, in our national language, “Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon”!

Work begins on Clark International Airport expansion

The project is part of a wider plan to transform Central Luzon in conjunction with the Manila-Clark Railway, Subic-Clark Cargo Railway, and the New Clark City projects

The transformation of Metro Manila’s second airport, Clark International Airport, into a major Asian gateway has started with work finally beginning on a new terminal.

The Clark International Airport Expansion project formally kicked off with a groundbreaking and capsule-laying ceremony at the airport grounds in Pampanga on Wednesday, December 20. It was led by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), and the Clark Development Corporation (CDC).

Spanning around 100,000 square meters, including landside and airside facilities, the new terminal is designed to accommodate an additional 8 million passengers every year and is expected to be completed by 2020.

It is expected to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals, as well as spread development in the peripheries.

“It’s quite sad that it took this long. The last 6 or 7 years, things didn’t move. But we forget about the past. That’s water under the bridge, because now we move forward,” BCDA president and CEO Vince Dizon said in a statement on the day of the groundbreaking.

Part of a wider plan for Central Luzon
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade noted that the expansion of the Clark airport is part of a bigger development plan for North and Central Luzon with the new terminal expected to complement other infrastructure projects in the area.

The most prominent of these are the Manila-Clark Railway, Subic-Clark Cargo Railway, and the New Clark City.

“We will connect to the Manila-Clark Railway. Not later than January 6, 2018, we will mobilize the construction of the first segment from Tutuban to Malolos, and hopefully we will complete the entire line to Clark before the end of President Duterte’s term,” Tugade said.

The construction of the new terminal is the first hybrid project under the "Build, Build, Build" Infrastructure Program of the Duterte administration.

Under the hybrid model, the government will build the infrastructure using its own funds to ensure fast delivery of the project while auctioning off operations and maintenance to the private sector.

The group of publicly-traded Megawide Construction Corporation and Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure Limited won the rights to the project with the “lowest calculated bid” of P9.36 billion, lower than government's originally projected cost of P12.55 billion.

The BCDA is expected to bid out the operations and maintenance of the Clark International Airport to the private sector next year.

Metro Manila Subway leads expected infra buildup in 2018

The subway is expected to break ground in Q3 as one of 6 major rollouts next year while government spending is up 10% to P2.241 trillion through January to October of this year

2018 is when the government's Build, Build, Build program is expected to really kick in, garnished by big-ticket projects such as the long-awaited Metro Manila Subway and the expansion of the Clark International Airport, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Wednesday, December 20.

Government spending this year has gone up a notch with the latest DBM data showing that expenditure from January to October reached P2.241 trillion, up 10% from the same period in 2016.

For October alone, government spending was up 28.2% to P226.9 billion with spending on infrastructure accounting for P51.5 billion for the month, up 17.8% from October 2016.

The DBM noted that this was due mainly to road construction and flood control rehabilitation projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as well as the purchase of equipment by the Philippine National Police (PNP) under its Capability Enhancement Program.

The government agency added that civil works for Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2 extension projects of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) also contributed to the higher infrastructure and other capital spending.

The government is readying the rollout of 6 big projects next year as the DOTr and DPWH budgets have increased by 40.3% and 24.4%, respectively. (READ: 'Build, build, build' gets a third of proposed 2018 national budget)

These include some of the better known ones from the 75-project Build, Build, Build lineup which includes 6 air transport projects, 12 rail and urban projects, and 4 water transport projects.

Beyond transport, the campaign also includes 4 major flood management projects, 11 water supply and irrigation projects, 4 power projects, and 3 other public infrastructure projects.

Metro Manila Subway and Clark Airport expansion

Top of mind is the country's first-ever mass underground transport system, the P355.6-billion Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) with phase 1 expected to start by the 3rd quarter of 2018, according to the DOTr.

It is expected to have 13 stations, including one at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), and cut down commuting time from Quezon City to Taguig City to 31 minutes, while accommodating around 370,000 passengers on its first year of operations.

Phase 1 will entail a 25.3-kilometer subway connecting north and south of Manila (from Mindanao Avenue, Quezon City to Food Terminal Incorporated in Parañaque City) and NAIA. It is being financed through Japanese official development assistance (ODA).

The project completion will extend past the Duterte administration as the subway is expected to begin partial operations by the 4th quarter of 2025, with full completion targeted for 2027.

Another marquee project is the expansion of the Clark International Airport which broke ground on Wednesday.

The project, originally estimated at P12.55 billion, includes the construction of a new passenger terminal building to accommodate 8 million passengers annually, as well as required associated facilities – both landside and airside, to support the operations of the Clark International Airport.

The government announced on Tuesday, December 19, that the group of publicly-traded Megawide Construction Corporation and Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure Limited won the rights with its "lowest calculated bid" of P9.36 billion.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is expected to bid out the operations and maintenance of the Clark International Airport to the private sector in 2018.

Cavite-Laguna Expressway seen completed by 2020

MPCala Holdings Inc., a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., said it is on track to complete the construction of the P34.5-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway project by December 2020.

“It’s delayed on the right of way, but we think we can accelerate and complete it by end of December 2020,” MPCala Holdings president Luigi Bautista said.

“We’re hoping by January next year, we will get 11 kilometers of right of way in the Cavite side. If we get 11 km, we will already ask Leighton to mobilize the construction,” Bautista said.

MPCala Holdings earlier tapped Leighton Holdings of Australia to build the Cavite side, while local contractor DMCI Consunj Inc. will  construct the Laguna side of Calax.

Construction is expected to be completed by 2020, while operations and maintenance would be from 2020 to 2050.

Calax involves the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of a four-lane, 47-kilometer closed-system toll expressway connecting Cavitex and South Luzon Expressway.

The expressway will start from Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite and end at the SLEx-Malampasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. is also constructing Cavitex C5 South Expressway, linking C5 and Merville, Parañaque by way of a flyover, while the second phase will connect Merville and Cavitex.

The company is also building the P27.9-billion Cebu-Cordova Bridge project, a 8.25-km bridge project that will connect Cebu City to Mactan Island via Cordova. The project is expected to be completed by 2020.

MPTC is also building the NLEx-SLEx Connector Road, an eight-kilometer, four-lane toll road linking the North Luzon Expressway and South Luzon Expressway, passing through Metro Manila and using the existing Philippine National Railway alignment as its route.

The MPIC group also operates the North Luzon Expressway, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway.

DOTr: Japan study says Philippines loses P4.1B daily over traffic

(Updated December 12, 7:17 p.m.) — A transport official on Monday said that a Japanese study found that the country incurs daily economic loss of P4.1 billion ($81.426 million) due to traffic congestion.

According to Transport Assistant Secretary Mark de Leon, a 2017 updated study from Japan International Cooperation Agency revealed that economic loss due to traffic is now at P4.1 billion daily which is double the P2.4 billion ($51 million) estimated loss in its 2012 study.

JICA Philippines, however, told Philstar.com that the figure raised by De Leon is still under study and might be updated. JICA has yet to finish its follow-up study on the transport infrastructure development roadmap for the Greater Capital Region. It said the study will be finished in February 2018.
JICA earlier warned that by 2030, the Philippines would lose P6 billion ($119 million) daily due to traffic.

De Leon cited that inconvenient public transportation worsens the traffic in Metro Manila.

“Kaya lumalaki ang congestion levels kasi iyong mga tao will not opt to use public transportation. Kaya dumadami iyong traffic natin,” De Leon said, as quoted by reports, at the Senate Committee on Public Services hearing into the jeepney modernization program on Monday.

De Leon said this as he presented the government’s plan to modernize public utility vehicles. He said there are almost 180,000 registered jeepneys in the country and 90 percent of these vehicles have been running for more than 15 years, augmenting the traffic congestion.

Due to this, the transport official said the government is pushing for the modernization of jeepneys. The Department of Transportation is planning on imposing stiffer guidelines for jeepneys to ensure public safety.

De Leon added that the agency would have a “route rationalization program” wherein public utility vehicles would travel on designated routes identified in the Local Public Transport Route Plan.

The Senate committee conducted a hearing into the jeepney modernization program after major transport groups opposed the government’s plan to phase out jeepneys aged 15 years and older.

The DOTr vowed to engaged in dialogue with all transport groups to discuss their concerns regarding the program. Tugade said he is open to suggestions regarding the issue. — Rosette Adel