Jeepney group vows bigger strike after stranding hundreds in Taguig City, QC, Pasig

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of commuters were stranded on Monday morning in Bicutan, Taguig City, after only one or two jeepneys decided to pick up passengers due to the transport strike held to oppose the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) policy to phase out by next year public utility jeepneys that are more than 15 years old.

As early as 5 a.m., more than 30 jeepney drivers, operators and other members of the transport group, Association of Concerned Transport Organization (ACTO), gathered near the Food Terminal Incorporated along the East Service Road in Western Bicutan for the start of their so-called “transport holiday.”

Carrying banners that called for the resignation of LTFRB Chair Winston Ginez, the ACTO members blocked some Pasay City-bound jeepneys, which decided to continue with their trips despite the transport holiday.

This forced passengers to get off the jeepneys and walked until the South Superhighway where they waited for buses. It also left more than a hundred lining up at the terminal near SM Bicutan until 8 a.m., when normal operations of the jeepney resumed after the LTFRB agreed to have a dialogue with the transport group leaders.

ACTO national president Efren De Luna told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that all they wanted was for the regulating agency to explain to them and hear their side in the plan to get rid of old passenger jeepneys beginning Jan. 1, 2016.

“We would like to thank Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Jun Abaya for asking the LTFRB to talk with us,” De Luna said, noting that Ginez never listened to their prior call for dialogue.

He added that the three-hour strike paralyzed the movement of jeepneys especially in Taguig City, Cubao in Quezon City, Rosario in Pasig City and Lagro in Quezon City.

De Luna said that almost 70 percent of their 35,000 members in Metro Manila participated during the strike on Monday.

“We are not against modernization of units but the group has a common call for the LTFRB and that is to have a clear program for the phaseout of these jeepneys and not to remove old jeepneys all at once,” he added.

The ACTO chair explained that if jeepneys over 15 years old would be barred from plying the streets all at the same time, 90 percent of these public utility vehicles would be gone from the streets.

“The group is suggesting that it should be done by phases since it will not only affect our means of livelihood but the riding public as well,” De Luna explained.

Old and defective jeepneys, De Luna said, should be the first batch to be phased out to give jeepney owners and operators time to invest into new ones.

“There are 15-year-old jeepneys or even older that are still in good condition.  That’s why they should first assess the vehicles and provide us with guidelines for the implementation of the program next year,” he added.

De Luna said they would stage a bigger transport strike in the coming days if the LTFRB would ignore their views on the matter.  SFM