June 30 jeepney phaseout ‘cruel, inhumane’ By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
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ESCRIBING it as “cruel and inhumane,” an economistlawmaker on Sunday strongly opposed the June 30 jeepney phaseout without enough subsidies and assistance from the government. House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda urged the Marcos administration to expedite the cooperativization and provide subsidies for the public utility jeepney (PUJ) modernization program of the government, as some 50,000 traditional PUJs have not yet been consolidated and may lose their franchises due to Memorandum Circular No. 2023-13 issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regu-
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latory Board (LTFRB). Those who will cooperativize can have their provisional licenses renewed until the end of 2023. “Totally, I oppose it without government providing concrete assistance to help PUJs cooperativize or to provide ample seed funding for their cooperatives,” Salceda said in a statement. According to Salceda, even the end-2023 extension is not enough. Salceda said he will file a resolution directing the House Committee on Transportation to call for the suspension of the memorandum circular. “I think the policy is especially cruel and inhumane when there are no longer any PUJ subsidies in the budget. Cruel and inhumane when you consider that jeepney drivers
were among the hardest-hit sectors over the past three years,” he said.
Work with LGUs
SALCEDA also called on the Department of Transportation and the LTFRB to work with local governments to create a scheme where local government units establish and operate modernized jeepneys. “PUJs are a public utility, both by nature and by law, in the Public Service Act amendments. So, they are imbued with a greater sense of purpose than purely commercial enterprises. Public transport, arguably, should be run by the state. Ideally, at least,” he added. “In the absence of that, we should work with local governments, provincial governments in particular, and among NCR mayors, so that
LGU-led cooperatives or corporations can run the routes instead, with the displaced PUV drivers are regular employees. That will help rationalize routes better, create more dependable livelihoods for transport workers, and lead to better traffic conditions,” Salceda said. PUJs, Salceda estimated, convey between 800,000 to 1.2 million passengers in NCR alone, “while being the main mode of transportation between towns in the provinces.” “In the provinces, we also do not have the same degree of problems with PUJs as NCR does. Besides, congestion and pollution are not singularly the fault of old jeepneys. So, this policy totally hurts us in the provinces more than it hurts you in the cities,” he said. See “Jeepney,” A2
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Monday, February 27, 2023 Vol. 18 No. 135
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ON SMALL TRANSACTIONS R By Cai U. Ordinario
DOLE now focusing on issue of jobs mismatch
@caiordinario
EMOVING transaction fees may fast-track efforts to promote inclusive digital finance to benefit poor Filipinos, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
In his speech at the annual reception for the banking community last Friday, BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said a transaction fee worth P15 may still be high, especially for the poor. The BSP Governor said the banking community as well as the government may be able to “find a cost-sharing system” that will exclude small payments from fees. “And one way to make it more inclusive, and I’m sure we can work together to achieve it, is if small transactions... will be free of charge so that the poor can also use digital payments. Because if the transaction is small and the fee is P15—it’s quite large relative to the transaction,” Medalla said. Medalla said this is worth pursuing, provided that transactions are below a certain number or around three transactions per day. “There is a way of sharing costs. I promise you, the central bank, will be in a greater hurry to cut reserve requirements so you can afford to give those [concessions],” Medalla said by way of stressing his pitch. See “BSP,” A2
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
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NO SWAN SONG FOR PANAGBENGA The SM City Baguio, a Panagbenga Festival Float Parade Hall of Famer, supported and joined this year’s Panagbenga Festival with a float reminiscent of the swan boats of Burnham Park. #COLORSOFPANAGBENGA2023 #MAKEEVERYDAYBLOOMWITHSMCITYBAGUIO
IMMIGRATION CHIEF WARNS PUBLIC VS CRYPTO SCAM RINGS By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573
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HE Bureau of Immigration has warned the public not to fall victim to cryptocurrency scam syndicates that are using social media platforms such as Tiktok to lure Filipinos to work overseas. BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco issued the warning after conducting an investigation on
the eight repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Cambodia. The victims, whose ages range from early 20s to late 30s, comprised six males and two females. They arrived early morning of February 26 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2, on board a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight from Phnom Penh. The victims were all promised salaries of as much as 1000 USD per
month, and were forced to work for 16-18 hours a day without day off. “The trafficking landscape is very different now. Professionals are being lured into seemingly good-paying opportunities, only to end up being trafficked in this crypto scam,” Tansingco lamented. The eight OFWs told investigators they were recruited by the syndicates after coming across advertisements on messaging and social media platforms Telegram,
Facebook, and Tiktok. Three of the victims were brought out of the country via Zamboanga, and did not pass through formal ports, according to the BI. On the other hand, three of the victims departed via Clark, while two departed via NAIA. The three who departed via Zamboanga recounted that they traveled for seven days to reach their destination. See “Immigration,” A2
HE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is now focusing on jobs mismatch issues as the agency prepares for the entry of more foreign investors in the country. In a statement issued through the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the DOLE is preparing for the entry of more foreign investors in the country by ensuring that the Philippines has a pool of well-educated and highlyskilled workforce. The DOLE is paying attention in resolving jobs mismatch issues through the upskilling of Filipino workers, said Laguesma. Laguesma said upskilling of workers must be industry-led as well as demand- and market-driven so that workers can find employment that suit their skills. Laguesma added that jobs mismatch issues can also be addressed by conducting jobs fairs, with the DOLE focusing on knowing the requirements of every industry to effectively address them. Earlier, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said he sees the Philippines getting swamped with a tsunami of investments from Japan amid overwhelming interest in the country’s economic potential spurred by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos’s recent official visit to Tokyo. See “DOLE,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.1330 n JAPAN 0.4087 n UK 66.4242 n HK 7.0267 n CHINA 8.0019 n SINGAPORE 41.1348 n AUSTRALIA 37.5070 n EU 58.4685 n KOREA 0.0423 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.6974 Source: BSP (February 23, 2023)