If typhoon Glenda made landfall in Cebu instead of Manila, last Wednesday’s transport protest by public utility jeepney (PUJ) drivers would have been rendered moot and academic.
Thankfully the typhoon had other plans. Thanks to advance planning by the Cebu City government and transport agencies, buses were fielded to blunt an expected shortage of jeepneys.
PUJ operators and drivers were at the City Council asking for help in scrapping Joint Administrative Order 2014-01.
For good measure, they protested agaisnt a Cebu City ordinance that imposes higher fines on traffic violations and the recent practice of going after multiple violators by serving bench warrants.
They also made clear their plans to join the nationwide strike on Monday, July 21 to pressure the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to scrap the JAO.
But as we saw in last Wednesday’s hearing, the council and by extension the public at large, tempered their sympathy for drivers with the reminder that they, like everyone else, should follow the law.
Their excuse that the tougher traffic penalties would be abused by transport agencies and enforcers doesn’t wash.
Rules are there to establish order.
Flagrant abuses on the road by colorum buses, undisciplined drivers and smoke-belching jeepneys are a fact of daily life.
JAO 2014-01 and the Cebu City ordinance seek to eliminate operators who have no business plying the city streets because they pose safety risks to the riding public.
Operators concerned more with earning a profit rather than the safe passage of people want to avoid the cost of buying better, serviceable units.
Their alibi is that they cannot afford the tougher rules due to exorbitant franchise fees and maintenance repairs.
Ah, but they knew about the cost of operating their jeepneys and buses before investing in them right?
They may even use the JAO 2014-01 and the Cebu City ordinance as additional grounds to justify their petition for a fare rate increase, despite their avowed public declarations that they don’t want to because of their concern for the riding public.
So yes, they can stage their nationwide transport strike but how much public support could they hope to muster after inconveniencing commuters again?