MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Manibela and PISTON transport groups ended their week-long strike on Wednesday after a meeting with Malacañang authorities last March 7.
Mar Valbuena, a member of Maribela, a transport group that spearheaded the mass action, claimed that the strike was successful. Valbuena described the streets as being quiet, like a holy week or like a holy day.
“It was like a holiday. There weren’t many people who went out and there were a lot of contingency plans so you couldn’t really feel but the fact that there were not many people and schools had to hold online classes indicates success,” Valbuena said.
Along with Floranda of Piston, Valbuena emphasized that they were not against the modernization of transportation systems, but they opposed the phasing out of the traditional jeepneys, referring to the vehicle as kings of the road.
Scrapping out the Mandates
Meanwhile, transport groups continue to clamor for the scrapping of the memorandum circular that mandates the consolidation of individual jeepneys addressing this call to the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
“Like what we said in the negotiations, our call is for the total junking of [Department Order] 2017-011 because as long as it’s there, our worries will not go away,” Floranda said.
“Secondly, we said that [President Marcos] should release an executive order as proof that he’s suspending the implementation. According to Malacañang… this should be the period of revising the guidelines,” he added.
The transport groups decided to end the scheduled week-long strike after getting an assurance from Malacanang that President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr will be asking for a comprehensive review of the contentious Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program.
The Transport groups apologized to the commuting public for the inconvenience but stressed their action was necessary. – WhatALife!/Anthony
ALSO READ: Transport strike by PISTON leaves some jeepney routes paralyzed in Metro Manila
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