BACOLOD City – Two transport groups operating in this city are not joining today’s transport strike.
Albert Villanueva, chairman of Sentrong Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators (SSTONE), said their group and the Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association (FEBACDA) will instead prepare papers they will submit for 2024.
The transport strike, which will be led by the Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators, and Drivers (BACOD), is in response to the impending phaseout of traditional public utility jeepneys on Dec. 31.
BACOD president Rudy Catedral reasoned out that the city is not yet ready for the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP). They are asking the government to further extend their provisional authority by another year.
However, in an announcement made by the Presidential Communications Office, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the deadline will no longer be extended.
Marcos explained that 70 percent of all operators have already committed to and consolidated under the PUVMP.
“We cannot let the minority cause further delays, affecting the majority of our operators, banks, financial institutions, and the public at large,” he pointed out.
The President further said that adhering to the current timeline ensures that everyone can reap the benefits of the full operationalization of the country’s modernized public transport system and hence the scheduled timeline will no longer be moved.
In a press conference on Monday, Bacolod City’s Mayor Alfredo Benitez said commuters have nothing to worry about, pointing out the city’s public transportation will not be paralyzed as there are now 600 modernized jeepneys operating.
He has also requested the operators of modernized jeepneys if they could extend their operating hours to accommodate those working on night shifts such as employees belonging to the business process outsourcing industry. (Watchmen Daily Journal)/PN
