KING OF ROAD Conventional jeepneys ply the main thoroughfares in Baguio City in this photo taken on Monday. Jeepney operators are given by the government until the middle of 2022 to consolidate and convert their public utility vehicles into modern environmentally friendly urban buses. But transport regulators are being asked to postpone the deadline because of the pandemic and high fuel prices driven by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. —ALLAN MACATUNO
BACOLOD CITY––The transportation sector and Church leaders are calling on residents to support a two-day transport strike in Bacolod City and other parts of Negros Occidental by going on a lockdown to urge the government to implement mitigating measures against the soaring prices of fuel.
The transport strike, dubbed a People’s Holiday, will be held from 3 a.m. on March 21 to 3 p.m. on March 22. An ecumenical prayer rally at the Bacolod Public Plaza will cap the strike.
In a statement, the groups said if residents complied with lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, they could also support the transport strike by staying at home for two days because the effects of the surging oil price hikes would not exempt anyone.
“Residents should join the lockdown to protest the rising costs of fares, basic needs, electricity, water, and transportation of products,” they said.
Long lines of vehicles were seen Monday, March 14, at gasoline stations in this city, trying to beat another huge increase in fuel prices on Tuesday.
Caltex, Cleanfuel, Petron, Total, and Unioil announced that they increased the diesel prices by P13.15 per liter and gasoline by P7.10 by 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Caltex and Petron will also raise kerosene prices by P10.50.
The groups said they were not calling for a fare hike but the mitigation of the rising fuel cost through the suspension of the 12-percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products and price control on basic commodities.
They are also calling for the immediate distribution of the P6,500 subsidy to drivers of tricycles, taxis, jeepneys, mini buses, and other public utility vehicles and the P7,200 assistance for operators.
Their other demands include the scrapping of the 12-percent VAT on water, electricity, and basic commodities, the removal of excise tax on public utility vehicles, and the abolition of the Oil Deregulation Law, and the “fake modernization program.”
The joint statement was signed by Pete Pico of the Negros Consumers Watch, Elizabeth Katalbas of the Federation of the Bacolod City Drivers Associations, Albert Villanueva of the Sentrong Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Negros (SStone), and Rodolfo Gardoce of the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (UNDOC).
Present at the press conference were Fr. Chris Gonzales, Diocese of Bacolod Social Action Center director; Junjun Asis of SStone; and Diego Malacad of UNDOC.
Malacad said UNDOC members in La Castellana, Moises Padilla, Sipalay City, Kabankalan City, Binalbagan, La Carlota City, Sagay City, Talisay City, Silay City, and Escalante City would join the transportation strike.
They were also seeking the support of the bishops of the dioceses of Kabankalan, Bacolod, and San Carlos City, he added.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said they would make sure that provincial government employees would get to work during the transportation strike.