Bus units in QC on standby to provide free rides during transport strike

FILE PHOTO: Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte

MANILA Philippines — The local government of Quezon City will have on standby its municipal bus service units to assist commuters during the seven-day transport strike next week.

Mayor Joy Belmonte, in a statement on Friday, tasked the Traffic and Transport Management Department (TTMD) of the city to be prepared to deploy buses to assist in areas with high convergence of commuters.

“I have instructed the TTMD to prepare our buses for possible deployment to help our commuters. Makatutulong ang ating mga QCity Bus para mapagaan ang epekto ng transport strike (The Quezon City Bus will help ease the effects of the transport strike),” she said.

Among the places where services will be made available are Cubao, Commonwealth Avenue, Welcome Rotonda, Novaliches Bayan, East Avenue, Quezon Memorial Circle and Fairview area.

The Department of Public Order and Safety will also be monitoring areas with stranded commuters, as well as those with protest rallies of jeepney drivers and operators in the city, Belmonte noted.

The local chief executive likewise spoke with its Barangay and Community Relations Department to ask barangays to provide free rides in their respective areas.

Belmonte had also called on schools and businesses to conduct their classes and operations asynchronously or through online means.

‘“Kahit may ilang grupo ng nagsabi na hindi sila sasali sa strike, minabuti na rin namin na handa ang pamahalaang lungsod para tumugon sa ating mga commuters,” she said.

(Even if some groups said they would not join the strike, we made it a point that our city government is prepared to tend to our commuters).

Several transport groups will stage a weeklong strike starting March 6 to protest against the looming phaseout of traditional jeepneys under the implementation of the government public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization plan.

The Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board earlier set a deadline for public utility vehicle operators to join or form cooperatives on or before June 30 to avoid being barred from plying the roads.

The deadline was extended to Dec. 31 upon the advice of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, but transport group Manibela remains adamant to push through with the planned strike. — Vance Chan, Inquirer.net, Trainee

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JPV