Joselito Malig

Article (news)

Francis Orcio

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Newly appointed Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) chairman Atty. Teofilo Guadiz III admitted on Tuesday that the government’s Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program is facing serious setbacks due to widespread loan payment failures and financial mismanagement among transport cooperatives across the country.Speaking at his first media briefing as OTC chair, Guadiz revealed that many cooperatives, particularly those in Region 6, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos City, Cebu, and Metro Manila, are struggling to pay their bank loans for modern jeepneys, with some debts reaching up to P100 million.“There is one cooperative in Mindanao na ang utang is almost a hundred million. Hirap po magbayad. So, pwede pa naman magbayad. Kaya lang iayos ko sana iyong the way na pagbayad nila,” Guadiz said.“Mare-structure ko iyong loan nila. And the only way to assist them is through government intervention. And this is the appropriate agency to do that. It’s the Office of the Transport Cooperative,” he added.Guadiz, who previously served as chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, said the crisis stemmed from mismanagement of cooperative funds, as some officers used money intended for monthly loan payments for personal luxury purchases.“Hindi nagbabayad si kooperatiba. Iyong pera sana, pambayad sa banko, binili ng Fortuner (SUV), binili ng kung anu-anong mga ibang luho,” he said.Guadiz described the problem not as outright corruption but as “fiscal mismanagement,” noting that funds were diverted to unauthorized expenses rather than stolen.“When you say corruption, kasi it’s more on the government, I would say more on fiscal mismanagement po ng pera nila. Dahil iyong pera naman, hindi nila kinuha sa iligal, kundi iyong legal na pera na dapat pambayad nagamit po sa iba,” he explained.The growing number of unpaid loans, he warned, has caused government financial institutions such as the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to lose confidence in lending to cooperatives, effectively stalling the modernization drive.“Mawawalan ng kumpiyansa ang banko sa ating mga kooperatiba. As it is right now, Land Bank and DBP ho hindi nagpapahiram ng pera. Bakit po? Dahil iyong payment trend ng mga kooperatiba ay hindi umaayon,” he said.To address the problem, the OTC chief said he will spearhead a restructuring of existing loans, extending payment terms from five years to eight or ten years, to make them more manageable for struggling cooperatives.He also plans to launch financial education and management training programs for cooperative members, many of whom are former jeepney drivers unfamiliar with handling large sums of money. Guadiz emphasized that the strength of cooperatives is crucial to the success of the government’s modernization initiative.

OTC chairman Atty. Teofilo Guadiz III said many cooperatives, particularly those in Region 6, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos City, Cebu, and Metro Manila, are struggling to pay their bank loans for modern jeepneys, with some debts reaching up to P100 million.

OTC chairman Atty. Teofilo Guadiz III said many cooperatives, particularly those in Region 6, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos City, Cebu, and Metro Manila, are struggling to pay their bank loans for modern jeepneys, with some debts reaching up to P100 million.

Guadiz: Some transport cooperatives misused modernization loans for SUVs

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Guadiz: Some transport cooperatives misused modernization loans for SUVs

Francis Orcio,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 14, 2025 05:04 PM PHT

Read More:

DOTr

Transportation

PUV Modernization Program

Teofilo Guadiz III

OTC

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