Piston to push through with strike next week

MANILA, Philippines—Militant group Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide is pushing through with its planned strike next week, saying the dialogue with President Benigno Aquino III and other top administration officials failed to address the transport sector’s woes.

The group’s strike will likely be less potent after fellow transport groups backed out of the planned joint protest.

Piston scheduled its nationwide protests for September 19, aiming to urge the government to impose regulations on the country’s oil sector, among other demands.

“We did not get any guarantee from the President that he will do something about high fuel prices,” Piston secretary general George San Mateo said in an interview.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board warned against operators and drivers that join the transport strike. But LTFRB board member Manuel Iway said the regulator would only impose penalties if public transport routes are paralyzed.

Piston, together with groups’ Pasang Masda, the Alliance of Concerned Transport Operators and the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, announced plans for a joint protest earlier this month.

This came after successive hikes in the prices of petroleum products, particularly, of diesel fuel, which most public utility vehicles use. Piston has blamed the Oil Deregulation law for the unabated increases in fuel prices. Piston has also called for the removal of value-added taxes on petroleum products.

On Wednesday, the leaders of four major groups together with smaller organizations were able to ventilate their concerns as well as see President Aquino give his immediate response to their concerns.

ACTO, Fejodap and Pasang Masda backed out of the planned protests after the meeting, but Piston said it still had the support of smaller groups.

“I respect the decision of the other transport groups. That’s their right,” San Mateo said.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte on Thursday said Mr. Aquino had ordered the concerned agencies to review the Oil Deregulation law.

Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug meanwhile said President Aquino had instructed officials to implement the fuel subsidy for jeepney operators from the remaining balance of the P300 million earlier allocated for the program to help transport groups cope with the new round of oil price increases.

But San Mateo said Malacañang failed to give any definite timeline for these reviews.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, who was present at the Palace meeting, said he had ordered the LTFRB review insurance policy guidelines for public transport operators.

The current monopoly in passenger personal accident insurance is held by Passenger Accident Management Insurance for those registering odd-numbered plates and by Unitrans for those registering even-numbered plates.

“Amid high fuel prices, one concrete step that can help jeepney operators and drivers is the lowering of their insurance premiums, while at the same time expanding their insurance coverage,” Roxas said.

Presently, jeepney operators pay almost P1,000 for an annual coverage. Given that there are approximately 230,000 jeepneys registered, this amounts to P230 million in premiums yearly. For the roughly 170,000 buses and other PUVs, the average P1,000 annual premium they pay for coverage amounts to P170 million.

Roxas ordered LTFRB chair Jaime Jacob to review the existing monopoly structure and find ways such that there will be prompt payment of claims, with lower premiums, higher coverage, and better service.

Under the present LTFRB Passenger Personal Accident Insurance Program, which expires on September 15, PUV operators can only get insurance from the two LTFRB-accredited insurance groups.

“Now that the five-year accreditation program of the two insurance groups has expired, we are now opening the accreditation to more participants. These include management companies representing insurance groups or individual insurance companies,” Jacob said.

In opening PUV insurance to more players, Roxas said operators will be able to avail of the best and most affordable insurance premiums available in the market.