(Eagle News)–President Bongbong Marcos has approved Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista’s recommendation to extend the deadline of consolidation of public utility vehicles.
The Presidential Communications Office said the deadline is extended for three months, until April 30, 2024.
The PCO said the extension was to “give an opportunity” to those who expressed their intention to consolidate but “did not make the previous cut-off” to do so.
The government initially gave PUVs a December 31 deadline to submit the required documents for consolidation into corporations, but gave some leeway for those plying select routes, allowing them to operate until Jan. 31, 2024 even if they failed to do so.
Consolidation is the first step to “rationalizing” routes under the government’s PUV modernization program.
“Rationalization” means units will be allocated along routes based on need, instead of having them compete against each other.
Consolidation is also a key step to fleet modernization, the government has said.