Plain indifference.
This was the reaction of several jeepney drivers to members of militant organizations making the rounds in Pasig City to convince them to join the transport caravan that many feared would have stranded thousands of commuters in Metro Manila.
“Let us ask the government to scrap the oil deregulation law once and for all!” a woman speaking on the megaphone shouted, as the jeepney she was riding plied Col. Flores Street in San Nicolas.
The vehicle, the only one that the Philippine Daily Inquirer spotted that joined the transport caravan, had red and white flags attached to it, all of them bearing the labels “KMU” (Kilusang Mayo Uno) and “Anakpawis Partylist,” two of the militant organizations that initiated the event.
The jeepney, which until past noon had been going around the city, was supposed to ply the Pasig-Angono route.
With the woman were seven other people, some of them distributing copies of “Ang Manggagawa,” the KMU’s official organ.
What will I feed my kids?
Despite her shouts and forceful messages, passersby and jeepney drivers remained indifferent.
Noel Baguio, who plies the Marikina Bayan-Pasig Palengke route and is not affiliated with any transport organization, told the Inquirer that he needed to work despite what militant organizations said was a whopping increase in oil prices.
“What will I feed my children if I go with them?” he asked as he waited for passengers to board his vehicle.
He said that although there was less take-home pay for him since the start of this year, it would be worse if he joined the caravan because he would be taking home nothing at all for the day.
“So what’s the use?” he asked.
Even some members of the militant transport group, Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide (Piston), themselves did not join what was supposed to be their organization’s culminating activity on Thursday.
A jeepney driver, who refused to identify himself but plies the Pasig Palengke-Angono route, told the Inquirer that he did not join the transport caravan since nobody had so far “forced” him to do so.
“I haven’t seen anyone stopping me yet, so why should I go with them?” he told the Inquirer.
He added, however, that he was still one with his group’s cause, since he believed the government should do something to stop the increase in oil prices.
This, after all, he said, had “greatly reduced” his take-home pay for the day.
“I would have P700 after an entire day. Now, I only have P500,” he lamented.