Transport groups appealed to senators to not proceed with the suspension of the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) following the signing of the Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1096 that urges the suspension of the said program.
President of 'Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators sa Pilipinas' (LTOP) Orlando Marquez expressed his dismay on the recently signed resolution authored and approved by 22 senators of the country.
"Kung mayroon naman palang silang alam na kamalian niyan, bakit hindi sila nagsalita noon pa?" Marquez said during an exclusive interview with DZRH on Thursday.
LTOP's President questioned the timing of putting the suspension into a temporary halt, given the fact that senators mentioned that they have been seeing anomalies with the PTMP.
"Kung may pagkakamali, ang aming tanong, bakit hindi pag-usapan at itama 'yung problema at masolusyunan?" Marquez firmly stated.
He then proceeded to appeal for a discourse instead of pushing through with the suspension, citing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s support of the program.
"Ang aking pakiusap po ay hindi sana suspensyon ang dapat gawin kundi itama, pag-usapan, at ituloy ang programa dahil ang sabi nga ng pangulong BBM, ay tuloy ang programa at ayusin ang mga dapat ayusin kaya binago ang pangalan na dating PUVMP to PTMP," Marquez said.
"Kami namang sumusunod sa gobyerno ang lalabas, 'yun 'yung balak palang naman namin na gagawin," Maquez added hinting a possible transport strike.
Transport groups are set to hold nationwide simultaneous rallies starting on Monday where they plan to extend their sentiments.
"Hindi kami titigil dito dahil nalugmok na kami sa utang," Marquez said.
On July 29, Magnificent 7 and other transport groups threatened to conduct a nationwide transport strike all over the country if Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero pushed through with the resolution to suspend the Public Utility Vehicles Modernization Program (PUVMP).
The senate signed a resolution on Thursday that urged the government to immediately suspend the implementation of the PUVMP, now known as the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP), in order to address urgent concerns raised by relevant groups.
