Transport ‘holiday’ set in Cagayan de Oro

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — A group of transport cooperative owners is set to stage a transport strike, or “holiday,” today to press the government for fuel subsidies and fare increases amid rising fuel costs.

Luzviminda Escobidal, president of the Northern Mindanao Federation of Transport Service Cooperatives, said operators are losing as much as P80,000 a day per cooperative as diesel prices exceed P100 per liter.

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Escobidal said operators have no choice but to suspend bus operations on Monday to dramatize their plight.

She also criticized President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for suspending a fare increase scheduled for March 19, despite earlier assurances that the government would subsidize fuel costs for the transport sector.

“We apologize to the riding public, but we are left with no choice but to stop our bus operations,” Escobidal said.

The federation operates buses along the Canitoan-Pagatpat-Cagayan de Oro route, a major growth corridor serving thousands of daily commuters. —FROILAN GALLARDO