Bacolod City gov’t offers free ride amid transport strike

Bacolod City on Negros Island (Image from Google Maps)

BACOLOD CITY — The Bacolod City government is offering “Libre Sakay” services for stranded residents during the two-day “People’s Holiday” transport strike that kicks off at 3 a.m. on Monday, March 21, and ends at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

The city government has allocated nine service vehicles that will ply seven point-to-point routes, City Administrator Edward Joseph Cuansing said.

The pickup points will be at Barangay Bata (Bangga Sawmill), Barangay Alangilan (Plaza), Barangay Sum-ag (near the public cemetery), Barangay Mansilingan (Mormons Church), Barangay Handumanan (Police Station 10) via Alijis, Barangay Estefania (Savemore) and Barangay Banago.

The Bacolod police will ensure the safety of motorists, the transport groups, and the riding public, Lt. Ma. Liberty Indiape, its spokesperson, said.

Police vehicles will also be used to transport stranded passengers if needed.

The strike to be held in Bacolod City and some parts of Negros Occidental will be joined by members of the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (UNDOC), Sentrong Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Negros (SStone), and the Bacolod City Drivers Associations (FEBACDA).

READ: Groups to hold 2-day transport strike in Bacolod, Negros Occidental to protest fuel price hikes

Diego Malacad of UNDOC on Sunday reiterated their call for the public to join the strike by staying home because everybody will be affected by the rising fuel prices if the government does not implement mitigating measures.

“We need to show the national government that we are united in calling for it to act now,” he said.

Albert Villanueva of SStone said they are setting up 14 rally centers around Bacolod City and are urging the public to join them because the fuel price hike is not just a problem of the transport sector but of everyone.

The three transport groups, in a joint statement released earlier, said they are not calling for fare hikes, but for the mitigation of the rising cost of fuel 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 are 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.”