Truckers suspend strike for a week

MANILA, Philippines—After the temporary lifting of their self-imposed “truck holiday,” trucker groups have agreed to extend their compliance with the Manila City government’s expanded truck ban for a week.

During a meeting on Saturday, members of the Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners and Organizations (ACTOO) and the Integrated North Harbor Truckers Association (INHTA) said they would observe this week the new antitraffic policy, which bans eight-wheelers and vehicles with a gross weight of over 4,500 kilograms from the city’s roads between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m.

This was after Mayor Joseph Estrada agreed last Thursday to let loaded trucks ply their routes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a two-hour extension from the previous window period of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Empty container trucks, however, would not be allowed to take to Manila’s streets.

Vice Mayor Franciso “Isko” Domagoso, meanwhile, clarified that the concession would be in effect for just two weeks, adding that the city government could decide later on to reduce or extend the window hours.

Normal, for now

In a phone interview, ACTOO chair Ricky Papa said that his group and INHTA were “unified to let delivery and truck operations take their normal course” this week.

This was after both organizations warned that they would resume their strike next week should the daytime window period for trucks be reduced once again.

According to Papa, their next course of action would depend on the results of negotiations with the local government.

“We will see if the city government will do something about [the ban] after assessing its effects on the city and the country as well,” he added. Should there be no action taken, Papa warned that they would have no choice but to stage a “big bang” protest.

He explained that their decision to normalize operations this week was prompted by their desire to let the city government see the effects of the modified truck ban without any intervention from anybody.

Papa said that their declaration of a truck holiday last week was their way of dramatizing the impact of the ban, not only on truckers, but also on exporters, importers and the whole business sector.

“Now, city officials will witness the effects of the ban’s actual implementation minus the truck holiday,” he said.

The Bureau of Customs last week said that private businesses as well as the government’s revenue collections were affected by the revised truck ban policy of the Manila City government.

Bad for business

It noted that on the first day of its implementation last Monday, the release of container vans from the Manila International Container Port dropped from an average of 2,150 per day to just four while the release of container vans from the Port of Manila fell from 1,200 per day to zero.

“But it seems that the city government still did not feel the effects of the ban during its initial week of implementation,” Papa added.

INHTA president Teddy Gervacio, on the other hand, said that he would discuss with other members of his group on Monday the ban’s impact on port operations and the livelihood of truckers and port workers.

INHTA, according to Gervacio, operates more than 1,000 trucks in Manila.

The group also hopes to have a dialogue with city government officials after this week to which they hope to invite people from the national level to help them explain the effects of the ban not only on truckers but on businessmen and other sectors concerned.

Gervacio, meanwhile, said that some of their members were wary of resuming normal operations since violators of the ban face a fine of P5,000.

“They are afraid of the possibility of paying the huge amount, which they claim is bigger than what they earn in a week,” he added.

Under the previous ban, heavy trucks were barred from Manila’s roads from 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

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