Bicol transport groups ready for transport strike on Wednesday

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay — Transport groups in the six Bicol provinces intend to paralyze 95 percent of public transport routes in the region for a one-day strike against the high oil prices on Wednesday, according to the spokesperson of a militant multisectoral group supporting the strike.

The groups belonging to the Concerned Drivers and Operators for Reform (Condor), an affiliate of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston), and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Bikol have joined hands to support the one-day nationwide transport strike, said Tessa Lopez, Bayan-Bicol spokesperson, in a phone interview Monday.

She said groups of jeepney, bus and Filcab van drivers and operators in Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Sorsogon, Masbate and Catanduanes have committed to join the strike.

Some tricycle drivers and operators have also pledged to join the strike, said Lopez.

The strike will start at 1 a.m. Wednesday and end at 12 midnight on the same day, according to Lopez.

Aside from the regionwide transport strike, rallies and caravans in cities and capital towns in Bicol would also be held on the same day, she said.

The drivers would wage a protest against government inaction on “fuel overpricing and profiteering by the three big oil companies operating in the country,” she added,

Lopez said they would also “demand for the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law that allows the three big oil companies to operate as a cartel and manipulate the prices of fuel to their advantage.”

Superintendent Wilson Asueta, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Bicol, said police units across the region would be placed on full alert for the transport strike, while police assistance units would be deployed to major highways to help commuters.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other government agencies said they have been preparing to deploy trucks that would ferry commuters during the transport strike.