Senator Koko Pimentel | The Source - video Dailymotion

CNN Philippines

PUV drivers whose operators complied with the government requirement to consolidate their franchises worry over their fate after the deadline lapsed.  The House of Representatives sets its eyes on pushing for economic charter change.  And later, we find out about the Senate's priorities in 2024.  Pinky Webb speaks with Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel.   Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 Welcome to the source where we combine the headlines with in-depth conversations with

00:05 the newsmakers themselves. I'm Pinky Webb. Today on the program, DUV drivers whose operators

00:12 complied with a government requirement to consolidate their franchises worry over their

00:17 fate after the deadline lapsed. The House of Representatives sets its eyes on pushing

00:22 for economic charter change. And later, we find out about the Senate's priorities in

00:27 2024. Senate Minority Leader Coco Pimentel joins us in the program.

00:44 The drivers of some public utility vehicles who failed to join cooperatives continue to

00:48 ply routes even after the government's December 31 deadline. The Land Transportation Franchising

00:54 and Regulatory Board is allowing unconsolidated jeepney and U.V. express units to operate

01:00 until month-end, but only in routes with less than 60 percent consolidation rate. Transport

01:07 Group Piston says almost no route in Metro Manila has reached the set consolidation rate,

01:13 lamenting that the number remains low in the capital region. Let's go straight to the source

01:18 of the story. We have Senate Minority Leader Coco Pimentel. Senator Coco, welcome to the

01:23 source. Sir, happy new year to you and thank you so much for your time.

01:29 Thank you for inviting me early in the new year. So happy new year to everyone. Good

01:36 morning, Pinky and to all.

01:38 All right. So let's talk about the P.U.V. modernization. December 31 was the deadline

01:44 for the consolidation. However, there is that caveat that meron po mga ruta na hindi po

01:49 umabot sa 60 percent consolidation. These jeepneys and operators who have not consolidated

01:54 will be actually allowed to ply those routes. Sir, I just want to put this in. I'm sure

02:00 the number will change, though. Let's just put in government data. They say that 70 percent

02:05 have actually consolidated, but only 40 percent of the P.U.J.'s in Metro Manila have consolidated.

02:14 And today, Gen 2 is officially the day everyone goes back to work. What kind of week are we

02:20 seeing or even month in terms of the operators, drivers and even the commuting public?

02:26 Well, I hope that the transportation system will not be disrupted again by protest actions,

02:36 but this will happen only if the government becomes reasonable or more reasonable because

02:46 definitely their timetable or their targets have not been met according to their timeline.

02:54 Even during the budget season, when we ask about this, ang layo pa, ang baba pa nung mga

03:03 percentages na babanggit nila per their timeline. Natapos na po yung final deadline nila which

03:12 is December 31, 2023. And I'm sure nowhere close to 100 percent po ang achievement nila

03:21 sa kanilang targets. So government should adjust and readjust and then re-examine. Siguro

03:34 go to the real reasons on the ground why there are some jeepney operators and drivers who

03:43 are not complying or ito nga yung other possibility, who find it very hard to comply. So look at

03:51 the requirements. Look at the requirements too. And then once they comply, maybe some

03:59 of them are already fearful of their obligations under the program. Kasi ang obligations sa

04:07 program bibili ng bagong unit although as a collective, pero meron pa rin kayong per head

04:14 na attributed na portion sa utang. Kasi utang po ito.

04:20 But Senator, siguro balikan na lang po natin kung paano ito lahat nag-umpisa. It was back

04:25 in 2017, sir, if I'm not mistaken, under the Duterte administration, during the time of

04:32 Secretary Artugade of the DOTR, when the PUV modernization was introduced. In fact, hindi

04:40 ho ba, way back, ang plano nun was that the modernization from 2017 should have actually

04:48 started sometime three or four years later, ano po, mga 2020, 2021, and then right now

04:54 it's already 2024. From the time, here's what I want to find out from you. From the time

05:00 that the Duterte administration introduced the PUV modernization, did you see potential

05:07 problems back then? And is this supposed to be an executive decision and not something

05:13 that Congress should actually legislate?

05:18 It's better to be legislated. If it's just an executive action, maybe the legal basis

05:25 can even be questioned. This should be by law that for public utility vehicles, the

05:36 following are the minimum requirements, pati dun sa engine. I do not know how to describe

05:44 the engine, the engine of the vehicle. Pero yun yata ang gusto natin gawain. Pati sa road

05:52 worthiness, ilagayin natin yung standards natin dun. Pati siguro yung guaranteed lifetime

06:02 of the vehicle as a public utility vehicle, ilagayin din po natin dun. Then the loan programs,

06:09 kasi nakita ko ton loan program, ang repayment period nila seven years. Hindi ba napaka ikli

06:15 din yan? Somebody should have paid attention to that. Hindi ba ang depreciation ng vehicle

06:21 is five to seven years din. So then, pagkatapos ng book value ng vehicle, zero na, nabayaran

06:32 mo na yung utang mo. Anong ibig sabihin nun? Hindi na road worthy yung sasakyan, panibagong

06:39 utang na naman. Is this an endless cycle of debt?

06:44 I mean, dapat yung nakaisip nito, hindi lang yung finance guy. Actually, isa sa reklamo

06:52 Pinky sa na-encounter ko ng transport groups, hindi daw sila kasama sa umpisa. So ngayon

07:01 nagpoprotesta sila, nasa-strike sila para mapansin sila, para pakinggan sila. So dapat

07:06 yung ganitong klase ng mga plano na most likely designed by people in the office, nag-aral

07:17 sa abroad siguro ng mga financing. Dapat pinapaliwana sa mga apektadong grupo and then kinukuha

07:26 ang feedback nila kung may katuturan ba itong plano na ito.

07:30 So Senator, you were saying that sa pagka-intindi ko po, it's better that it was done through

07:36 legislation and not due to, well, coming from an executive decision, di ho ba? So if that

07:46 is the case, sir, matanong ko lang po kayo, when this was put forward or introduced in

07:52 2017, why did Congress not look into this to somehow initiate legislation? Would there

08:03 have been some sort of conflict? Ganoon ho ba yun? Inaigisabihin kung kailangan ng batas,

08:09 bakit po hindi ninyo ginawa ito?"

08:12 "Hindi, magpasalamat nga tayo sa mga transport groups, ito ang mga jeepney drivers and operators

08:20 because they are now highlighting the problem or the issue. Dati-dati kasi medyo more of

08:28 theoretical ito. So ganoon ba ito insura ng bagong jeepney or mukhang minibus, ito may

08:34 financing magagaling sa land bank, sa DBP, ganoon dati. At least now we see. Now we see

08:41 na yan ang reaction sa ground."

08:43 "Okay. And what should Congress do then? Should Congress craft a bill regarding this?

08:54 Do you have any plans to do this, sir?"

09:01 "Yes, yes. My staff has been studying this issue and we will come up with a bill. But

09:14 of course we need the support of the majority in the Senate. I belong to the minority so

09:23 makikiusap ko tayo. But ito na ngayon ang nangyari ngayon."

09:27 "Senator, parang meron naman kayo, it seems meron kayong mga kakampi dyan. Si Sen. Grace

09:31 Poe, hindi ba? She's also very concerned about this PUV modernization. I believe Sen. Pia

09:39 Cayetano as well also very concerned about this."

09:42 "Correct, correct. We should get critical mass of support enough to move the issue forward.

09:54 But what I want to say, without this action by the jeepney drivers and operators, it's

10:03 not highlighted. Because if it was accepted by the affected sectors, as if the program

10:13 is acceptable, they're doing a good job. You can see that they're making sacrifices, even

10:21 though they're daily wage earners. If there's no travel, no income, yet many of them are

10:30 making sacrifices. No travel, not just for one day, more than one day, no income. So they

10:40 tighten the belts to feed their families. Because of their protest, more of us are focused

10:55 on what is the issue. That's what we're discovering."

11:00 "And just very quickly, sir, when you're saying that you're looking into filing a bill regarding

11:05 this, it's really to do what, sir? What is the bill all about?"

11:10 "To try to capture the loadable, the good objectives of the program, which is fight

11:23 the air pollution, improve the science and technology have advanced, that there's an

11:31 invented engine for motor vehicles that are less pollutive. If that is our standard, we

11:41 will put it in the law. And maybe since mass transport, the meaning of mass transport,

11:48 is that we will have to cut trains. If possible, we will look at the capacity. So every time

11:56 a jeep travels, if we can improve the number of people being transported, we can save more.

12:02 So all of these things. But the point is we cannot force people to go into debt. That's

12:12 the important thing. They will compute whether it's worth it to go there. If I continue this,

12:22 the government has a lending facility. I'm not forced to borrow."

12:31 "Which is actually very important, the financing part. Something that we need to discuss after

12:36 the break. This is the source on CNN Philippines. Please stay tuned."

12:39 "You're watching the source on CNN Philippines. I'm Pinky Webb. Our source today, Senate

12:53 Minority Leader Coco Pimentel. Senator, let's just listen to some of the sentiments. I hope

12:58 you'll be able to hear this from some jeepney drivers."

13:01 "The government is angry and angry. What you're feeling is because of what Bongbong Marcos

13:09 did. He killed our livelihood. Of course, before, we used to eat three times a day, now it's

13:17 only two."

13:18 "If we lose our jobs, we'll just look for new jobs. For example, we'll just farm. We'll

13:25 construct."

13:26 "Senator, I'm not sure if you heard it. Did you hear it?"

13:31 "I heard it."

13:32 "That's what we were talking about earlier. In fact, you said, what they call hand to mouth,

13:39 what they earn, that's what they spend on their daily life. Senator, I'm interested about

13:45 this bill, this forthcoming bill. Let's look at the good parts. For example, what they

13:50 call Euro 4 compliant engines, so that there's less pollution and the riding public has a

13:57 better experience. Let's look at the other side, the more important side, financing.

14:05 Because if we look into how much the government will help, I think it's about 200 to 250,000

14:17 per Jeep. The cost of a modern Jeep is about 2 million. Didn't you have a subsidy in the

14:28 2024 budget to which you weren't very happy about, sir, at 1.8 billion? Can you tell us

14:34 more about this, sir?"

14:36 "I'm not happy with funding the program, which is not ready. I'm not happy because of the

14:44 mislead amount being given to the program. My point is, suspend this program. During the

14:52 budget hearing, they asked how many drivers have become cooperative. The answer percentage

15:01 was very low. It should be nationwide, not just a high percentage in one place, the whole

15:11 country. That's one answer. And then, how much is this, 2.5? Let's put a range of 1.5

15:19 to 2.5 million pesos per unit, the minibus. So, I think the government is not ready to

15:33 implement this, that you will give very tough deadlines to our Jeepney drivers and operators.

15:42 And then, what will happen, look at our screen, that is now the new Jeepney or modern Jeepney,

15:49 that's not the one that's like a box. Isn't that like a minibus? This is another one,

15:56 like a coaster. So, goodbye to the iconic Philippine Jeepney, if that is the plan."

16:04 "So, tell us what exactly is your stand right now and what is your appeal to government?

16:09 Are you appealing to the government to suspend this PUV modernization, sir, pending bills

16:15 in Congress?"

16:16 "They are market forces first. They should make their program better. They should look

16:22 at who they can attract, Jeepney operators and drivers. Then, they are market forces.

16:29 If that is the model that the people of the country will like, then that is their vehicle.

16:35 Ultimately, Jeepney drivers and operators will see that this is not modernizing into

16:42 a minibus, not an airco, that they are losing passenger.

16:48 "Passenger."

16:49 "Yes, passenger. Therefore, ultimately, they are market forces. But for now, you are forcing

16:56 them to have standards and even if they don't comply, you have mandatory deadlines, otherwise

17:04 you will dequeue or disqualify those who cannot meet the deadline. That is what you will review.

17:10 Plus the fact that, as the author and the sponsor of the Creatives Industries Development

17:17 Act, I am one of the angels who cannot be discussed, our iconic Jeepney, which is part

17:24 of Philippine image and culture, and artistic creation, can be replaced by a box that is

17:36 a car that became a bus. That's part of our creative domain."

17:44 "Right. There are people raising that point, sir. The iconic Jeep. They don't want to lose

17:51 that. So, Senator, just to be clear, what is your appeal to the government now? I know

18:02 you said, let's look at market forces, but knowing that the deadline has lapsed, December

18:07 31, and knowing that they possibly still have one month, depending on the routes, that the

18:15 consolidation is not yet 60%, what is your appeal to government now? To continue, but

18:21 not forcefully, to suspend or suspend?"

18:25 "Yes. Suspend."

18:26 "Go ahead, sir."

18:27 "It is being forced because there is a deadline that everyone must comply. If that deadline

18:36 is not met, six months or a year, and then they advertise their program so that they

18:51 can voluntarily attract people to join their program. At the same time, let us say, these

19:00 dilapidated jeepneys that are not roadworthy. If we say they are not roadworthy, not because

19:06 of their jeep, let us say their brake system is not good, it is dangerous to passengers,

19:15 we will crack down on that because of the passengers, pedestrians, and road accidents.

19:26 So that's the first thing. When it comes to pollution, they should be given a warning

19:36 that the smoke emitted by your jeepney is polluted. After measuring that on a machine

19:45 that is violated under the Clean Air Act, there is a legal issue against them.

19:52 The legal issue should not be because you're still driving a jeepney. Because the jeepney

19:59 is part of our culture and part of our creative work.

20:01 You must be riding a roadworthy vehicle, not just a jeepney, right senator, in all vehicles?

20:10 Yes, especially in buses and trucks. I'm more worried about the braking mechanism. It should stop in accordance with some specifications at a certain speed.

20:26 You can still fully stop your vehicle. We are also in compliance with our anti-air pollution laws.

20:35 That's the first thing. You know, Pinky, I have researched this with my staff.

20:42 They encountered complaints against the new mini buses, the new so-called jeepneys.

20:50 There are also broken aircon, the doors are damaged. There are also issues with the defective braking system.

21:05 So even the mini buses that we want to call new jeepneys, that are really bus,

21:15 should be head and shoulders above the old jeepney when it comes to roadworthiness, transportation, safety and passenger convenience.

21:31 And I think, Senator, while we're at it, what we really need is an honest to goodness check on the roadworthiness of all vehicles, sir.

21:42 Correct, correct. That's in the law. Especially the sad ones, right?

21:49 The buses and heavy vehicles, the trucks. Because if this becomes out of control, many will be affected.

22:00 So the LTO, DOTR and LTFRB should do that. All vehicles on the road, whatever it is, must be roadworthy,

22:13 fair in accordance with the law and in accordance with the regulations.

22:18 We need to take another short break. We're going to talk about possible charter change.

22:24 This is The Source on CNN Philippines. Please stay tuned.

22:27 [Music]

22:35 You're watching The Source on CNN Philippines. I'm Pinky Webb, our source today, Senate Minority Leader Coco Pimentel.

22:40 Senator, I have maybe just one last topic to discuss with you given the time.

22:46 We've been in the PUV modernization for a while. Cha-cha, charter change.

22:50 Were you surprised prior to the break of Congress? House Speaker Martin Romualdo said they're looking into charter change

22:59 and that they will be studying this and hopefully in time for the President's State of the Nation Address in 2024.

23:05 Question, sir. Is cha-cha, first, in terms of economic provisions, timely?

23:12 Is it timely to look at economic provisions in our Constitution?

23:22 My position, being an advocate for the adoption of the federal system of government,

23:28 which cannot be done without amending the Constitution, therefore my position is I'm always open to discussing possible changes in the Constitution.

23:40 But per your question, Pinky, you said that it's only economic provisions.

23:46 I don't agree with that because my party or those who are in agreement with me, those who believe in federalism,

23:57 we can never achieve our goal if we amend only the economic provisions because federalism concerns amending the political

24:08 provisions of the Constitution. But the general idea is to open up discussion on cha-cha.

24:23 I agree with that, but I will never, from my side, I will never limit the discussion only to the economic provisions.

24:34 All right, because this has been known to you that you want a federal form, right?

24:44 Senator, my question is, I know that your stand on cha-cha is clear.

24:51 It cannot be only economic provisions.

24:53 Let's say, because you are an advocate, this progresses, sir.

25:00 To change economic provisions, does this need CONAS, CONCON, or a people's initiative, or can this be done through simple legislation, sir?

25:16 Simple legislation, no.

25:21 People's initiative, no, because economic provisions are many and therefore this will amount not to a simple amendment but to a revision.

25:34 People's initiative is designed only for a very specific amendment in the Constitution, nakafokus lang, okay?

25:41 So therefore, there are only two modes left, constituent assembly or constitutional convention.

25:47 All right, at least that's clear, sir. And just quickly, is it clear in our 1987 Constitution that you will vote separately, sir?

25:59 For me, it's clear, but since the phrase "voting separately" is not found there in the Constitution when it comes to constitutional changes,

26:13 the other people are saying it's not clear. But of course, we read the Constitution as one whole.

26:19 What structure did the framers of our Constitution as ratified by the people?

26:27 Our Congress made two houses, the House of Representatives and the House of the Senate.

26:33 So, it's an ordinary law that Congress passed in two stages. It should have been passed in the House, but it was passed in the Senate.

26:43 That's the ordinary law. This is the fundamental law.

26:48 So, in my opinion, if we read the Constitution as a whole, given the structure and given this, that this Constitution is more important than ordinary law,

27:01 all the more that the procedure for passing ordinary law should be the minimum procedure for passing proposed amendments to the Constitution.

27:13 Amendments or revisions at that.

27:15 Senate Minority Leader Coco Pimentel, sir, again, Happy New Year to you, and thank you so much for your time.

27:21 Salamat din po, and Happy New Year to everyone.

27:26 And thank you for joining us here on The Source. I'm Pinky Webb. You're watching CNN Philippines.

27:31 [Music]

Senator Koko Pimentel | The Source

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