6 hurt in protest vs Manila truck ban

Fresh protests against the expanded truck ban in Manila turned violent Thursday as six men, including the officers of a cargo transport organization, were hurt in a scuffle with armed port security personnel.

Ricky Papa, chair of the Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners and Organizations (ACTOO), and fellow officers Jerwin Dumanog, Rolly Reyes, Jay Castillo and two members suffered head and shoulder injuries after about 30 security guards tried to stop them from distributing flyers at Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), the Inquirer learned.

The guards were reportedly from the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), operator of the MICT.

ACTOO director Rina Papa, Ricky’s daughter, said she and her colleagues were peacefully handing out flyers to truck drivers and port workers entering the MICT at the corner of Road 10 and the MICT South Access Road when members of the RVV Security Agency arrived and broke up their gathering.

“We were surprised why they were there in the area armed with truncheons, rifles and shot guns,” Papa told the Inquirer. “We are still wondering why they came, since the ICTSI management has been very supportive of our cause.”

She said her father was hit with a truncheon in the face. “We will talk with the ICTSI management regarding the incident, but no matter what the outcome of the dialogue may be, we will still be filing cases against them,” Papa said.

RVV Security members at the site declined to be interviewed when approached by the Inquirer.

The protest action was the latest since Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada implemented the revised truck ban in February. Critics from the business sector said the ban not only slowed the movement of goods from the port, making companies miss delivery deadlines, but also led to abuses by traffic officers and towing crews on the lookout for violators.

ACTOO member and truck driver Ram Calvo said he used to earn P700 per trip every day, “but now I can barely complete three deliveries in a week” because of the ban.

ACTOO, which has about 700 members operating 2,500 trucks at the MICT, said it would continue with the protest until the city government suspends the ban. The group also held a three-day strike in February.

Meanwhile, another trucking group, the Aduana Business Club Inc. (ABCI), said it did not participate in Thursday’s protest since it was still banking on the support of the Chinese-Filipino businesses community in raising the truckers’ concerns through a dialogue with Estrada.

ABCI president Mary Zapata said the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. had agreed to help her group and talk to Estrada upon his return from Hong Kong. With a report from Erika Sauler