BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The city government is ready to counter the impending two-day jeepney strike here with free rides.
The strike begins on Monday, March 21, as a protest against incessant fuel price hikes.
Thru its official social media pages, the city government will announce the routes of the free rides soon, said City Administrator Edward Joseph Cuansing.
The city government will be mobilizing its own vehicles to help get people to their workplaces and markets.
Cuansing also said the city government’s operation will continue despite the two-day transport holiday.
United Drivers and Operators Center (UNDOC) secretary-general Diego Malacad, meanwhile, is surging people not to leave their homes during the transport holiday as a sign of support to the striking drivers.
Transport groups in this city and Negros Occidental are demanding that the national government defer the excise tax and 12 percent value added tax on fuel.
On Tuesday, the price of fuel jumped for the 11th time this year – about P12 more per liter for diesel and around P7 more for gasoline.
For its part, Vallacar Transit Incorporated (VTI), owner and operator of Ceres bus liners, said they will continue their operations here and in Negros Occidental during the jeepney strike.
Jade Seballos, public relations officer for VTI, said the Provincial Buses Association of the Philippines (PBAP) will not participate in the strike, citing its negative effects.
Seballos also pointed out that they cannot stop operations as it would be against the policies set by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board./PN
