More than 100,000 jeepney and UV Express drivers are expected to join the week-long transport strike to protest the government’s PUV Modernization Program.
The leader of the Manibela transport group, Mar Valbuena, rejected Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista’s call for a dialogue to head off the strike, contradicting the announcement that there would be talks.
“There will be no dialogue for now. I will stand my ground. We’ll push through with the strike on Monday for a week,” he said in Filipino in a TV interview.
The transport strike will start on March 6 at 7 a.m. and will last until March 12, he said.
More than 100,000 jeepneys in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol Region, and Cagayan De Oro are expected to participate in the strike.
The group urged the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to drop its modernization program to save 200,000 commuters in Metro Manila from the inconvenience.
National Center for Commuter Safety and Protection (NCCSP) Chairperson Elvira Medina said the transport strike would be a major problem, particularly for workers trying to get to work.
She also warned that the strike might affect the public’s access to health care and students attending face-to-face classes.
Earlier, Bautista said he had met Valbuena, and said his group was ready to negotiate to avoid the transport strike—a claim Valbuena denied.
Bautista said other transport groups supported the modernization program.
“Everything can be discussed, when we talk about an issue, we can address it… we will listen to the grievances of every stakeholder,” he said.
“Trashing our mod program is probably not right. We need to modernize our PUVs (public utility vehicles),” he said.
He added that the government was ready to mobilize to deal with the transport strike if the talks fail.
“Our contingency plan here, there are many here in Manila, there are many modernized jeepneys, there are many cooperatives that have complied with our requirements and they assure us they will continue their operations,” Bautista said
The LTFRB announced Monday that operators of traditional jeepneys, UV Express and multicabs will no longer be allowed to operate after June 30, unless they join a cooperative or a corporation.
The LTFRB memo extended the franchises of traditional jeepneys to June 30 instead of the March 31 deadline amid the calls of several transport groups to stop the phaseout of traditional jeepneys.
The Senate has passed a resolution urging the LTFRB to postpone the June 30 phaseout.
Senator Grace Poe said the DOTr must find a realistic and viable solution to the concerns raised by operators and drivers on the modernization program.
“We reiterate our call to the DOTr and the LTFRB to submit an update on the modernization program,” said Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services.
“We must see where it is now and whether the targets are achievable,” she added.
She also said Bautista should be present during consultations with various transport groups, so he can hear their concerns.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III urged the government not to insist on the jeepney modernization program, which will phase traditional jeepneys and will require drivers and operators to join cooperatives.
Pimentel said the government should not proceed with the phaseout if jeepney operators cannot afford to buy new jeepneys.