FROM 600 last Monday, only 200 individuals participated yesterday on the second day of the three-day transport strike called by the transport group Piston, according to the PNP.
In a press briefing at Camp Crame, PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo said the second day of the strike was peaceful, just like last Monday.
“Based on our coordination with the NCRPO (National Capital Region Police Office), it’s peaceful and they (the transport group) failed to affect our transport sector,” said Fajardo.
Piston is staging the strike to protest the government’s PUV Modernization Program, particularly the December 31 deadline given to jeepney operators for consolidation into cooperatives.
Fajardo noted that vehicles from the PNP, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) remained deployed to provide free rides to commuters affected by the strike.
The PNP has deployed 9,000 policemen to ensure peace and order during the transport strike.
“So far, it’s relatively peaceful,” said Fajardo, adding PNP vehicles were able to give free rides to some 800 commuters in Metro Manila.
She said police vehicles are still in the streets providing free rides to commuters as of yesterday.
“The concentration of the deployment of these mobility assets is areas where public transport vehicles are scarce,” said Fajardo.
“We are thankful that we have yet to monitor any harassment and we are hoping this will continue,” said Fajardo.
ANOTHER STRIKE
Another transport group, the Malayang Alyansa ng Bus Employees at Laborers (Manibela), said it will stage its own 3-day transport strike today, Wednesday, but the threat was poo-pooed by the MMDA.
MMDA Chairperson Romando Artes said the agency will implement the same preparations it implemented for the strike staged by Piston that will end today.
“We will have the same preparations. We are prepared,” Artes said in a Viber message, adding this will include the deployment of additional traffic personnel and the prepositioning of emergency vehicles to ferry stranded passengers.
“Same assets will be on standby until Friday,” he added.
Fajardo said the PNP is ready for the transport strike to be staged by Manibela.
She also reiterated the PNP’s appeal to the members of the transport groups not to harass drivers who are not joining the strike.
Artes said the MMDA will coordinate its preparations with the LTFRB, the PNP, and the 17 local government units in the metropolis.
The agency said it will not suspend the implementation of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or the number coding scheme.
“Number coding will not be suspended,” the agency said.
The agency suspended the UVVRP last Monday during the first day of the 3-day Piston-led transport strike.
Artes and other transport officials earlier dismissed the Piston-led transport strike, saying it failed to paralyze public transport in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.
On the second day of the strike yesterday, the MMDA said it dispatched 12 vans along the Sucat-Baclaran area in Paranaque, and a bus to ferry passengers in Monumento, Caloocan, Paranaque City Hall, and Philcoa in Quezon City.
However, the agency said it did not deploy service and emergency vehicles in the afternoon.
Piston and Manibela are protesting the government’s year-end consolidation deadline for public utility jeepneys (PUJs) that forces them to join cooperatives, among others, instead of the current single ownership and boundary system as part of the PUJ modernization program.
Manibela national president Mar Valbuena said they will hold a caravan starting at the University of the Philippines in Diliman up to Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City to dramatize their opposition to the government’s plan.
Valbuena said Manibela members in Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Central Luzon, Central and Western Visayas, Sultan Kudarat, Davao Region, Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro will participate in the strike.
Valbuena said the current alternative models for the jeepney modernization program are too expensive for ordinary operators and drivers, adding the government should instead allow them to rehabilitate their jeepneys by installing environment-friendly or compliant engines.
“We can rehabilitate our jeepneys and all we need are just good engines,” he said.
FREE RIDES
The House of Representatives, in cooperation with the MMDA, gave free rides to commuters to help address the three-day transport strike.
“The House of the People is always working in collaboration with the Marcos government through the MMDA to alleviate the inconvenience caused to commuters by the transport strike. We have taken this joint initiative to ensure that stranded commuters have available rides to their work or home,” Speaker Romualdez said after his office sent five buses to the MMDA.
Artes said the agency and the House of Representatives have deployed five buses since Monday to augment the number of vehicles provided by local governments and other agencies offering free rides to affected commuters.
“The MMDA, in partnership with the House of Representatives and other local government agencies, ensures the immediate dispatch of free ride services to help our commuting public. We thank the leadership of Speaker Romualdez for responding and helping our objective that commuters would not suffer from this transport strike,” he said.
Artes said the five buses were deployed on the following routes: SUCAT-Baclaran, Pasig-Momumento-Quiapo, Philcoa-Doña carmen, Parañaque City to City Hall, and Antipolo-Quiapo.
The LTFRB said some of the major requests of Piston regarding the PUV Modernization Program could be done.
LTFRB spokesperson Celine Pialago, in a television interview, said waiving the penalty, extension of franchise of up to five years, and relieving some of the provisions of the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines (OFG) are doable.
“Those three are doable. The only thing that is not doable is the dropping of the consolidation process. But the process can be simplified,” she said.
Last Monday, LTFRB Chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III said the agency will be “studying” Piston’s demands, adding they are open to a five-year franchise as part of negotiations.
The transport group, however, said jeepney drivers and operators can no longer wait for the LTFRB “study,” noting the year-end deadline for the consolidation of traditional jeepneys is just around the corner. — With Ashzel Hachero and Wendell Vigilia
