Transport group PISTON on Saturday announced a three-day transportation strike from April 29 to May 1 in protest of the government’s public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program.
Members of labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and party-list Bayan Muna are set to join the transport strike in solidarity until it culminates through Labor Day demonstrations on May 1.
This as President Marcos earlier this month said there would be no further extension of the program’s April 30 deadline for franchise consolidation.
PISTON deputy secretary-general Ruben Baylon said although jeepneys that fail to consolidate will be apprehended beginning May 1, they will continue plying their routes.
“It is the right of Filipino citizens to serve their country. That is why even if the deadline lapses, drivers and operators will keep hitting the roads,” Baylon said in Filipino.
The strike’s convergence areas in Metro Manila will include Agoncillo, Alabang, Anonas, Baclaran, Katipunan, Litex, Monumento, Novaliches, Philcoa, Sucat, and Taft.
The first jeepneys rolled onto the streets of the country just after World War II – noisy, smoke-belching vehicles initially made from leftover US Jeeps that became a national symbol.
Seven decades later, the colorfully decorated vehicles now face an existential threat from a plan to replace them with modern mini-buses.
Easy to fix and cheap to ride, the vehicles grew in size and length to become the backbone of the country’s transport system, carrying passengers, goods and even visiting popes.
But the government’s plan to phase out jeepneys in an effort to modernize the country’s chaotic public transport network has put the future of the iconic vehicles in doubt.
Operators now have until April 30 to join a cooperative and then gradually replace their fleet with modern vehicles that are safer, more comfortable and less polluting.
Cooperatives will be able to access bank financing and receive a government subsidy for each vehicle to ease the financial burden of the transition.
But drivers opposed to the plan argue that buying a new vehicle will bury them in debt and they will not be able to earn enough money to repay their loans and make a living.
“It’s difficult for us to get a modern jeepney… we can’t afford the price,” said Julio Dimaunahan, 57, who operates a jeepney in Manila and has joined a cooperative.
“Even now our pockets are hurting because of the little profits we get as operators,” he said, pointing to increased competition from motorbike-hailing services.
Jeepney operator Flocerfida Majadas, 62, said she was worried about the future of her drivers if she were to go broke.
“Our concern is that we may not be able to pay our liabilities,” Majadas said, referring to bank loans.
“If we’re not able to pay, the bank will repossess the modern jeepneys. If the bank repossesses them, what will happen to our staff?”
Teodoro Caparino, who has been driving a jeepney for 35 years, hopes the government will decide to fix existing jeepneys rather than replace them with “Chinese-made vehicles.”
“Our families will starve if we do not get to drive our jeepneys… all we know is driving,” Caparino, 60, said. With AFP