MODERN PUVs. Members of the Bukidnon Transport Multipurpose Cooperative take a look at a model of the modern public utility vehicle during a viewing event in Barangay Puerto, Cagayan de Oro Oro City recently. The new PUV units will start plying the streets of Cagayan de Oro once cooperative secures its PHP130-million loan. (PNA photo by Jigger J. Jerusalem)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Several transport cooperatives in Northern Mindanao that have switched to modern public utility vehicles (PUVs) are just waiting for the Land Bank of the Philippines to release their loans before they can start operation.
Once their loan applications are approved and released by the state-run Land Bank of the Philippines, the transport cooperatives can immediately place their orders with PUV manufacturers, said Aminoden Guro, LTFRB-10 director, on Tuesday.
Guro sees more modernized PUVs owned and operated by transport cooperatives and corporations will ply the various routes in the region before the year ends.
The PUVs include public utility jeepneys, taxis, and vans, he said, adding the operation of the modern PUVs is in line with the national government’s PUV modernization program.
“We expect to have more modernized PUVs by the end of the year,” he said, adding that starting January next year, LTFRB will only issue franchises to new PUVs owned and operated by either a transport cooperative or a corporation.
Per records from the Office of Transportation Cooperatives, Northern Mindanao has 51 transport cooperatives, most of them based in Misamis Oriental, particularly in Cagayan de Oro.
Misamis Oriental has 28 transport cooperatives; Bukidnon, seven; Lanao del Norte, 10; Misamis Occidental, four; and Camiguin, two. One of those groups is the Bukidnon Transport Multipurpose Cooperative (Buktramco), based in Quezon town, Bukidnon, with a branch in this city.
Melvin Erederos, the Buktramco chairperson for Cagayan de Oro, said they are just waiting for the approval of the PHP130 million loan from Land Bank, which the transport coop will use to purchase 52 modernized PUV units priced at PHP2.5 million each.
Erederos said that of the 52 units, 37 will be for Buktramco’s Cagayan de Oro operations, while 15 will be for Bukidnon. Buktramco plies the Bugo-Cogon route in the city, but he said they will be adding two more routes based on the local public transport route plan.
The transport coop has more than 3,000 members in this city and in Bukidnon.
Teofredo Soquiño, Buktramco general manager, said that based on their business plan, the coop can afford to pay off the loan within the seven-year period, despite the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Although the Covid-19 pandemic has reduced the number of passengers, Soquiño said it also means faster travel time and more round trips for the PUVs.
Under the PUV modernization program, drivers will be receiving monthly salaries.
Rolina Morales, QSJ Motors Philippines Inc. national marketing coordinator, has confirmed that Buktramco has made a purchase order for 52 modernized PUV units.
She said they can assemble at least 80 units in a month, but added they can increase production quota to 120 if not for the pandemic.
“We are expected to deliver to Buktramco within this year. They have already submitted their purchase order to us,” she said during the public viewing of the QSJ-made modernized PUVs in Barangay Puerto recently.
Morales said they were given by Buktramco three months to deliver.
Lawyer Gil Cembrano, QSJ Motors marketing consultant, said that aside from Buktramco other transport cooperatives in Mindanao, specifically in the Caraga region, have also signified their intent to order from the PUV manufacturer.
“Some transport coops have taken an interest in QSJ because of our reasonable price. We are cheaper compared to other brands,” Cembrano said, adding that while the present fuel standards required at present is Euro 4, they are now into manufacturing Euro 5-calibrated engines to comply with the Clean Air Act. (PNA)
