Pampanga jeepney drivers to join nationwide strike vs oil price surge

INQUIRER.net photo

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The transport group STOP (Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Tutol sa Phase Out) in Pampanga province is poised to mount a strike should the national government refuse to heed its appeal to suspend the collection of excise on petroleum products amid rising prices.

Danilo Yumul, STOP chair, said drivers would join the strike planned by the National Public Transport Coalition this week or next.

According to him, excise on gas runs to P10 per liter and between P8 and P9 per liter on diesel.

He said the recent surge in oil prices led drivers to just “break even,” or earn just enough to cover most of their operation costs.

Yumul did not say how many drivers would stop plying their jeepney routes in the province, including Angeles City and Clark Freeport, or how many hours or days the protests would last.

Rene Romero, private sector representative in the Regional Development Council in Central Luzon, said small businesses in Pampanga are gravely affected by the continuous increase in oil prices.

He said there was “uncertainty and alarm” because aside from the increasing prices of supplies and gasoline, there was a call for a pay hike.

“Most of us in the business sector have suffered from the pandemic for two years. Now that we are starting to build up recovery actions, the war between Russia and Ukraine poses yet another tragedy to the business sector,” Romero said.

TSB