Transport groups stage 3-day protest as PUV modernization continues

FILE PHOTO: Jeepney drivers tie a “NO to PUV Phaseout” poster on one of several jeepneys during one of the transport protests led by Manibela in January 2024 in Diliman, Quezon City. LYN RILLON/PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines — Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) drivers and operators began their three-day nationwide protest on Monday, in response to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision to reject calls to suspend the modernization program for jeepneys.

In its Facebook page, Manibela said it staged a transport strike in parts of Quezon City, Pasig City, Pasig City, Caloocan City in Metro Manila and parts of Cavite, Bulacan, Pangasinan and Iloilo.

“Manibela strongly condemns President Marcos’ disregard for the genuine concerns of the transport sector,” the group said in a statement over the weekend.

Marcos rejected the call of senators to suspend the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP).

The president noted that 80 percent of the franchises of jeepney drivers have been consolidated.

“So, how is that? The 20 percent will make the decision?” Marcos said in an interview in Pampanga last Wednesday, Aug. 6. “Let’s listen to the majority, and the majority says we should continue with it. So, that’s what we will do.”

Manibela, however, disputed Marcos’ data.

“The claim that 80 percent of PUVs nationwide have complied with consolidation requirements is starkly at odds with the daily realities faced by drivers and operators,” it said. “Many are grappling with the fear of losing their livelihoods due to the exorbitant costs associated with modernization.”

The three-day protest will culminate in a protest on Wednesday, Aug 14.

Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City will serve as an assembly point for the protesters marching towards Mendiola Peace Arch in Manila.

Meanwhile, Piston, a national federation of public transport associations, also backed this transport strike as it also urged drivers and operators to initiate more of such activities nationwide to “retaliate” on Marcos’ order to continue the implementation of the PTMP.

“The call to scrap the PTMP simply seeks to prevent further damage to the livelihoods of all PUV drivers and operators, and to ensure a fair opportunity for them, not for the greedy corporations,” Piston said in a statement.