Cebu, Mandaue cities ready for Piston rally
Gov’t buses, backup vehicles on standby for quick deployment if needed
Despite the assurance of a transport group that commuters will not be affected with their rally protesting the jeepney phaseout plan on Monday, the
Cebu City and Mandaue City governments are still putting on standby buses and other vehicles that can be quickly deployed if these vehicles will be needed.
The Cebu City government will put on standby 20 Kaohsiung buses just in case commuters will be stranded because of the rally of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide Cebu (Piston Cebu) on Monday morning.
Councilor Dave Tumulak, committee on peace and order head, said that they would be deploying the Kaohsiung buses if there would be passengers stranded on Cebu City’s streets during the rally.
“He (Greg Perez) assured us that this will not affect transportation in Cebu City. Even though, our Kaohsiung buses are on standby in case there would be stranded passengers on the streets,” Tumulak said on a text message to Cebu Daily News on Sunday.
Tumulak was referring to Perez who is the coordinator of Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide Cebu (Piston Cebu).
Perez said in a separate interview that the protest action would only last to at least four hours and would not affect the commuters because not all members of the transport group would join.
“Dili kaayo makamugna og traffic kay dili tanan mosalmot ug dili lang sa usa ka rota gikan ang tanan membro moapil (It will not cause much traffic because not all members will join the rally and those who are to join are not from one route),” he said expecting at least 60 members of Piston Cebu, some jeepney drivers and operators, will join the protest.
For Mandaue City, Felix Suico, Mandaue City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MCDRRMO) head, said they have at least seven backup vehicles, one bus, a truck and five vans, in case there will be a need for public transportation in the Mandaue City area.
“Standby lang gihapon ang among backup na sakyanan. Anyway halfday raman sab ilahang rally (We will put these backup vehicles on standby.
Anyway, the transport group’s rally will only be for half a day),” Suico said in a phone interview.
“Wala naman klase ang uban tungod sa bakasyon. Ang mga commuters lang nga dunay trabaho maoy maapektahan (Most of the student commuters have no classes anymore. The commuters, who will go to work, will most likely be affected by this protest action),” he said.
While LTFRB – 7 Regional Director Ahmed Cuizon said in a previous interview that he welcomes their move to air their sentiments but advised them not to cause inconvenience to the public.
“They are free to express their sentiments on the matter, but I would just like to appeal to them not to wage any transport interruption that would inconvenience the general public,” he said.
In an earlier interview, Director Ahmed Cuizon, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7), said that he welcomed the group’s move to air their sentiments, but he advised them not to cause inconvenience to the public.
Piston Cebu and other cause-oriented groups will be marching from Andoks in Mabolo, Cebu by 9 a.m. heading to the office of the LTFRB – 7 at the North Reclamation Area (NRA), Cebu City.
Perez said that the group was denouncing the plan to phase out jeepney units of at least 15 years old and the implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program.
He also said that PUJ drivers are the most affected especially with the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law, which imposes excise tax on fuels.
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