MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The mayors of Metro Manila declared themselves ready for the two-day strike by jeepney operators and drivers against the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP).
The Metro Manila Council (MMC) said they have mapped out contingency plans, including providing transportation to commuters affected by the nationwide transport strike that begins today, April 15, 2024.
MMC President and San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora said each local government unit has standby government vehicles.
“We are ready, but most of the time, we don’t need to use our vehicles. But just in case the strike affects transportation, we can use these,” he said.
Zamora also said he had communicated with the National Capital Region Police Office to acquire more officers to protect drivers who won’t join the transport strike and who had been harassed in the past.
Piston President Mody Floranda said even some motorcycle taxis may join the strike. He added that drivers in the Bicol Region, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, General Santos, Bacolod, and Baguio City have said they will join, too.
Piston and Manibela have been pressuring the government to junk the PUVMP, which calls for jeepney drivers and operators to consolidate themselves into cooperatives or corporations as a first step.
Meanwhile, the MMDA said they will not lift the number coding on Monday, April 15.
Also, over the weekend, Sen. Imee Marcos called on the national government to immediately carry out concrete solutions to problems holding back the PUVMP.
In a radio interview, Senator Marcos asked where each jeepney operator or driver would get the P2.4 million needed to buy a modern jeepney.
She compared public transportation to the lifeblood of the nation.”It mobilizes the businesses, transports students [and] brings patients to hospitals. How can we operate without the [PUV] drivers?” she said.
She also questioned the wisdom of requiring the drivers to join cooperatives, where they would become “mere employees.”
She said that modernizing the transport sector must not come at the expense of drivers whose only means of livelihood is driving their traditional jeepneys and the riding public.
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