Peaceful PISTON rally in Cebu City

At least 50 members of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) – Cebu Chapter showed up for their staged rally along North Reclamation Area going to Colon Street, on Monday morning, September 30, 2019. | CDN Digital Photo / Gerard Vincent Francisco.

CEBU CITY, Philippine–The staged rally of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) – Cebu Chapter on Monday, September 30, 2019, in front of the Land Transportation Franchise Regulatory Board Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) office, was peaceful and was not obstructive.

According to Police Brigadier Debold Sinas, director of Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), there were no reports of unruly behavior from the PISTON members during their organized rally to express their dissent on the planned modernization of public transportation in the country that could result to the phase out of Public Utility Jeepneys (PUJs).

“So far we did not monitor any violent rally or strike here, malinawun ra ta karon (it was peaceful),” said Sinas.

Unlike the expected 200 or more members to participate in the rally, there were only at least 50 who showed up.

Read more: Piston-Cebu holds rally not transport strike

The Traffic Patrol Group (TPG) of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) together with the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO), were present in the intersections all over the city, especially at the North Reclamation Area and across an establishment going to Colon Street, where the group gathered to continue an hour of protest after they stopped by LTFRB-7.

Police Staff Sergeant Ferdinand Asenjo, on-duty officer of TPG told CDN Digital this afternoon that they have not observed violent actions from the group since they met at around 9:00 a.m. until they ended their protest past 12 noon.

Ferdinand said the group also stayed on the side of the streets and was not blocking the highway during their march to LTFRB and to the Colon intersection.

Cebu City also experienced light to moderate traffic in the duration of the rally.

According to the CCTO, the number of jeepneys operating during the transport strike on Monday was lesser by just 20 percent.

Ronie Nadera, the CCTO spokesperson, told CDN Digital that some areas such as in Barangay Lahug and Bulacao saw a slight decrease in the number of jeepneys, but the passengers were easily catered to.

Nadera also said because majority of the jeepneys still continued plying their routes, there was no need to deploy the 30 buses prepared by the city government for stranded passengers. /bmjo