Cebu jeepneys to stop plying routes Monday to protest phaseout program

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Students, workers and other commuters here have been warned to prepare for the transport holiday dubbed as the “National Day of Protest,”  which will be participated in by some transport groups in Cebu on Monday.

Rudy Laconza, chairman of the Alliance of Transport Organization Member Intra Cebu City (ATOMIC), said they have been protesting the reported plan of the national government through the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to phase out the jeepneys more than 15 years old.

LTFRB Chair Winston Ginez was quoted last week in a report posted on the Inquirer.net that the phaseout plan would not be implemented in 2016.

“In the first place, we explained that there isn’t a phaseout policy yet. There’s a draft memorandum circular, but it is only a working draft for consultation purposes. It has not been signed yet, it is not effective yet, and there is no plan to implement it in 2016,”  Ginez said in the Inquirer.ner report.

But Laconza said that this early, they would like to express their opposition to the supposed plan because it would lead to the total phaseout of passenger jeepneys, especially after the government’s announcement that it would push for the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT system) and Hybrid buses.

“If passenger jeepneys are phased out, what would happen to us?” he said in Cebuano.

If the plan would not be implemented in 2016, Laconza said, the governmen would still implement it in the following years.

Aside from ATOMIC, other transport groups in Cebu which will join the protest include the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON), Alyansa sa mga Nagkahiuysang Drayber-Operator alang sa Reporma (ANDAR) and National Confederation of Transport Union .

ATOMIC has members deploying jeepneys in at least 27 routes in Cebu City.

ANDAR has members in Cebu City and Talisay City areas while NCTU has members in the southern  and northern parts of Metro Cebu like Carcar City and Minglanilla town (in the south) and Consolacion town  to Danao  City (in the north). Piston has members in Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities.

Laconza said they comprised at least 45 percent of the total number of PUJs in Metro Cebu.

The participating drivers and operators will converge at 8 a.m. on Monday in front of the LTFRB Central Visayas office along the North Reclamation Area. They will have a short program to deliver speeches at 9 a.m.

Laconza said the drivers might stop plying their usual routes at 7 a.m. or others would opt to no longer travel in the  morning.

While he admitted that the activity would just be a form of protest, the effect would be that of a transport strike  because most of them would not ply their routes.

“But rest assured that we will resume our operation in the afternoon,” Laconza said in Cebuano.  SFM