Transport group sets week-long strike, hits traditional jeepney phaseout deadline

(NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / INQUIRER / file photo)

MANILA, Philippines — The transportation group Manibela on Monday announced its plans to stage a week-long strike starting March 6 in protest over the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) Circular Memorandum No. 2023-013, which sets the deadline for the phaseout of traditional jeepneys on June 30.

“Sa pagsiil sa aming karapatan sa aming buhay, ang ipapantapat po namin dito, sa taning na binigay sa amin, sa taning na makapaghanapbuhay, isang linggong tigil pasada,” said Manibela chairman Mar Valbuena in a press conference.

(In suppressing our rights, we will counter with  a week-long transportation strike.)

“Sa March 6 magsisimula ito kung hindi ito babawiin ng LTFRB, isang linggong tigil pasada po nationwide lalong lalo na po dito sa NCR,” he added.

(The strike will start on March 6 if the LTFRB does not withdraw its deadline, a one-week strike nationwide, especially here in Metro Manila.)

Valbuena said the LTFRB must withdraw the circular and further extend the franchise of traditional jeepneys to least another five years.

The franchise for traditional jeepneys was supposedly set to expire by the end of March nationwide, except for Metro Manila which was until the end of April in accordance with the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.

But the LTFRB on Feb. 23 extended it to the end of June 2023.

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