KABATAAN Party-list stressed how young students who are children of jeepney drivers will be affected by the upcoming phaseout of traditional jeepney under the PUV Modernization Program.

“Stories from young students are pouring over social media how they may stop schooling because their fathers will lose their jeepneys, or how young workers must step up because their parents have lost livelihoods,” the group said.

The group said the December 31, 2023 deadline forcing jeepney drivers to consolidate their franchises into cooperatives, or else have their franchises revoked without a chance of renewal, will cripple the national transport sector and lead the Philippines into a man-made disaster in 2024.

“LTFRB admitted that they don’t know what the percent of consolidation per route is. Despite knowing that many jeepney operators in the busiest urban center in the Philippines haven’t done so, they will still push through with this phaseout policy that will harm commuters, drivers, and operators,” they said.

The youth gathered at Welcome Rotonda in solidarity with the calls of the jeepney drivers and their families massing up at the University of the Philippines Diliman.