DAVAO City — Public utility jeepney (PUJ) drivers here will join the two-day nationwide transport strike set next week to demand for the junking of the government’s jeepney modernization program.
The transport strike will come four days before the set schedule of the unveiling of the jeepney prototypes at the Philippine Trade Training Center today.
Rick Baron, spokesperson of Transport of Southern Mindanao for Solidarity, Independence and Nationalism-Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Transmision-Piston), said they are preparing for the nationwide transport sector protest set on Oct. 16 to 17.
Baron added that the Transmision-Piston is targeting to paralyze the traffic in Davao City by “90 to 99 percent.”
“We have already made some discussions with workers and students who will be affected by the strike to unify them on the issue because this concerns not only jeepney drivers and operators, but also the public,” Baron said.
He said with the new program, the costs of commodities, including fare, are expected to increase.
The transport group tagged the modernization program as a “jeepney phase-out program,” saying the replacement of old jeepneys with the new ones will affect the livelihood of over 600,000 PUJ drivers and operators nationwide.
In a statement, Piston National President George San Mateo said the “phase-out program” which will commence next year through the Department of Transportation’s Omnibus Franchising Guidelines “forces PUJ drivers and operators to purchase a minimum of 10 ‘brand new’ PUJ units which costs over P1.6 million each.”
“This will be operated under a “fleet management” scheme run by big transport companies while fares would be collected through the “Beep card” automated collection system owned and operated by the big business Ayala-Pangilinan consortium who has also a monopoly control over the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT),” San Mateo said.
He said only big transport corporations can come up with over P20 million to comply with the government’s new guidelines.
“They want to rid small operators and drivers of our livelihood to hand over to the monopoly control of big foreign and local businesses,” San Mateo said. (davaotoday.com)
Disclaimer
Mindanao Gold Star Daily holds the copyrights of all articles and photos in perpetuity. Any unauthorized reproduction in any platform, electronic and hardcopy, shall be liable for copyright infringement under the Intellectual Property Rights Law of the Philippines.
