MANILA, Philippines – Transport group Manibela is holding its transport strike from Wednesday, November 22, until Friday, November 24, as the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON) continues with its own three-day strike, which started on Monday, November 20.

Both groups are protesting the government’s year-end consolidation deadline for jeepneys that forces them to join transport cooperatives, among others, instead of continuing with the current single ownership, boundary system. 

Manibela president Mar Valbuena said in a press conference on Tuesday, November 21, that its members in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Central and Western Visayas, and Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, Sultan Kudarat, and the Davao Region in Mindanao are expected to join the nationwide strike. 

Manibela intends to hold a caravan starting in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City up to Welcome Rotonda in Quezon Avenue, Quezon City on Wednesday. 

Valbuena said they are opposed to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) call for them to just sign up for consolidation since this is the start of the process of unsustainable modernization.  

He said the alternatives under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) are too expensive for ordinary jeepney drivers and operators. 

Valbuena urged the government to instead allow them to rehabilitate their jeepneys by changing their engines. 

“Pwede kami magparehab ng sasakyan, kailangan lang ng magandang makina,” he said. (We can rehabilitate our vehicles, we just need good engines.) 

Consolidation does not have to be a pre-requisite for modernization, Valbuena said. 

He added that it was the right of jeepney drivers and operators not to join cooperatives and to remain as single owners of their vehicles.  

Valbuena claimed some of those who joined cooperatives and borrowed money to buy “modern jeepneys” have not succeeded. 

Meantime, LTFRB chairman Teofilo Guadiz assured jeepney drivers and operators that they will not lose their livelihood since they are not being forced to modernize their jeepneys, but pushed to make them “roadworthy.”  

“Isa lang po ang ating prayoridad ang kaligtasan ng ating mga commuters, kaya kung ang jeepneys po ninyo ay ‘roadworthy,’ kasama po namin kayo sa PUV Modernization Program,” Guadiz said. 

(Our only priority is the safety of our commuters, so if your jeepneys are roadworthy, you can be part of the PUV Modernization Program.)

He also assured commuters there is no phaseout of jeepneys by the end of the year. 

PISTON announced on Monday, November 20, that it would continue its own three-day transport strike, after meeting Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Teofilo Guadiz. 

PISTON president Mody Floranda said they were not satisifed with Guadiz’s statement that the regulatory agency would study their demands. 

Meanwhile, LTFRB spokesperson Celine Pialago said the impact of the transport strike has so far been minimal. – Rappler.com