THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday said it is ready for the two-day transport strike that will be staged by the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON) starting today, Thursday.
MMDA Chairperson Romando Artes said they expect the strike to have a “minimal impact” on public transportation in the metropolis, similar to what happened in another transport strike last month.
PISTON national president Mody Floranda said around 100,000 jeepney drivers and operators are expected to join the strike, which is being held to protest the impending phaseout of traditional jeepneys on December 31 as set under the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program.
Floranda said among the routes in Metro Manila expected to be affected by the strike include Commonwealth Ave., Monumento, Novaliches, Pasig, Bagumbayan, Marikina, Alabang, Baclaran, Rizal and España, Manila.
Pasig Pateros Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (PPJODA) board member Rodolfo Molina said 2,000 jeepney operators and drivers in Pasig City will join the strike.
Artes, however, downplayed the strike, saying the MMDA has been able to fine-tune its response to such mass actions to the point where they are now confident to say public transportation will not be crippled.
“Our preparations in past transport strikes have been effective. We now have shorter response time, better coordination with other agencies, including the PNP, especially if there are incidents of harassment, and in prepositioning our personnel at vehicles,” Artes said, adding: “I think we now have come to the point that we will no longer be held hostage by transport groups.”
To underscore how the agency sees the transport strike, Artes said the implementation of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or the “number coding” scheme” will not be suspended.
“We will not suspend the number coding scheme. We all know that every time we suspend the number coding, it results in 20 percent additional vehicles in our roadways,” he said, adding the 20 percent is equivalent to 800 more vehicles on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and 400 on the C-5 road.
Artes, however, said the MMDA, in cooperation with local government units in Metro Manila and other government agencies, would still deploy additional traffic enforcers as well as preposition vehicles to ferry stranded passengers.
“We will still prepare because it is part of our mandate to provide service to the public,” he added.
Artes said they will focus their monitoring in the CAMANAVA area (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela) and Paranaque today considering these areas experienced disruption in public transport in the previous strike mounted by the Malayang Alyansa ng Bus Employees at Laborers (Manibela).
Artes said the the agency is also readying for the expected traffic tomorrow considering it is “payday Friday.”
DOTR: WE ARE READY
Like the MMDA, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) also expects the transport strike to have a “minimal impact” on public transport.
DOTr Undersecretary for Planning Timothy Batan said the government is prepared and assured there will be available transportation for commuters.
“We do not expect that many will join this transport strike as there are transport cooperatives that support the PUV modernization,” he said.
A pro-modernization group that staged a peaceful rally in Manila and in Quezon City last Tuesday opposed the extension of the consolidation deadline, saying it would be unfair to those who have complied with the directive.
The group added that at least 120 groups have consolidated for the program in Metro Manila and 1,700 groups across the country.
In a television interview, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista reiterated President Marcos Jr’s pronouncement that the December 31 deadline is final and warned that PUV operators who fail to join the PUV consolidation will result in automatic disenfranchisement.
By yearend, the PUV consolidation rate nationwide will reach 70 percent, with around 15,000 in the process of approval. The remaining 30 percent is expected to lose their franchise if they fail to join the consolidation by the end of this year, according to Bautista.
Bautista stressed the government is prepared for the transport strike, saying: “We are ready. If we are ready for December 31 without them, we are ready now.”
The National Capital Region (NCR) has the lowest consolidation rate nationwide at 26 percent (13,470 units out of 51,984 units), according to the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) data on PUV consolidation per region as of November this year.
Region 4B has 34 percent (853 units out of 2,476 units); Region 9 at 37 percent (2,104 units out of 5,712 units); and Region 11 at 49 percent (1,182 units out of 2,424 units). Only Region 12 has reported a 100 percent consolidation rate with 6,121 units. — With Myla Iglesias and Christian Oineza
