RUBBER bullets and truncheons will be used against jeepney drivers who will oppose the government’s jeepney modernization program, President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday.
He threatened military action if jeepney drivers, particularly the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide or Piston, would oppose the government’s modernization plan.
“I’m preparing the Armed Forces and the Police to buy rubber bullets, prepare for truncheons,” Duterte said during the conferment of the 2016 Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities in the Philippines.
“I’ll pull you. I don’t care if we go into turmoil.”
Duterte said people “are being killed almost everybody slowly” with the toxic fumes coming from jeepneys.
“You should see Manila at sunset. It’s not mist, but it’s floating all over the city.”
Piston is protesting the PUV modernization program aimed at phasing out the jeepneys and replacing them with eco-friendly ones.
Duterte earlier said he was giving drivers and operators until December 2017 to modernize their jeepneys.
