TNVS strike fails to paralyze ride-hailing services

UNITED FRONT Transport Network Vehicle Services (TNVS) drivers go offline to show their solidarity with those who joined Monday’s “transport holiday.” —JAM STA. ROSA

MANILA, Philippines — Transport Network Vehicle Services (TNVS) drivers staged an unprecedented “transport holiday” on Monday to protest the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) policies on granting franchise applications, although its effect seemed minimal.

There was no official count of participants in the mass action although leaders of the TNVS community gave estimates ranging from 10,000 to 30,000. But since some of those who took part were drivers who were deactivated last month, the strike did not paralyze ride-hailing services.

Ninoy Mopas, president of TNVS group Thug Philippines, sought to differentiate the holiday from a conventional strike, saying a sizeable number of drivers had continued operating.

“We gave our members and groups the choice to stay online to provide service to the riding public. The ones who are here are probably the ones who were deactivated, operate at night and those who were dismissed,” Mopas said during a dialogue between various agencies.

“This transport holiday did not burden the commuters. If you found it hard to book, honestly, it is harder to book on Mondays because there are only a few drivers,” he added.

Grab, the largest employer of TNVS drivers, also said the strike had no discernible impact on its operations. At
8 a.m., two hours after TNVS drivers had said they would go offline, Grab’s platform was “pretty normal,” according to communications manager Fiona Nicolas.

Different TNVS groups will conduct a much-awaited dialogue with the LTFRB regarding their concerns today. These include charges that the agency was constantly adding new requirements and changing the process for acquiring the provisional authority that TNVS drivers needed to go online.