Several passenger buses were blocked by striking drivers along Natalio Bacalso Ave. in front of the office of the Land Transportation Office in this CDN file photo. The striking drivers protested the higher traffic violation fees imposed by DOTC.
No strike, but drivers won’t ply their routes from 8 a.m. to 12 noon
Metro Cebu commuters may find it difficult this morning to board a passenger jeepney or even hail a taxi to go to work or school.
Transport groups in Cebu confirmed that they will join the so-called National Day of Protest to dramatize their opposition to government plans to phase out the jeepneys.
“What will happen to us if this happens? At least 1,000 drivers will be affected and lose their source of income,” said
Greg Perez, Cebu coordinator of the militant transport group Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston).
Winston Ginez, chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), was quoted last week as saying that the phaseout plan for 15-year-old jeepneys won’t be implemented next year.
“There’s a draft memorandum circular but it is only a working draft for consultation purposes. It has not been signed yet. It is not effective yet, and there is no plan to implement it in 2016,” Ginez said in an Inquirer.net report.
Livelihood
But Rudy Laconza, chairman of the Alliance of Transport Organization Member Intra Cebu City (ATOMIC), said the seeds for the phaseout of the jeepney are now being planted with the institution of hybrid buses and the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system.
“If passenger jeepneys will be phased out, what happens to us?” he said in Cebuano.
If the phaseout does proceed, Laconza said the government must ensure that the drivers will still have a source of livelihood.
Aside from Piston and Atomic, other transport groups in Cebu that are expected to join the protest include the Alyansa sa mga Nagkahiusang Drayber-Operator Alang sa Reporma (Andar) and National Confederation of Transport Union.
The Cebu Integrated Transport Cooperative (Citrasco), which has 1,000 jeepney operators and 200 taxi operators as members, won’t join today’s protest action.
Consultation
Citrasco chairman Ryan Benjamin Yu said he already instructed his members to continue plying their respective routes today.
He said while there is a plan to phase out the jeepneys, he believed that the government cannot implement it outright without consultation.
On that basis, Yu said there’s no need for them to join the protest action today.
Laconza said Atomic has members in at least 27 routes in Cebu City. Andar has members in Cebu City and Talisay City areas.
NCTU has members in the southern and the northern parts of Metro Cebu like Carcar City and Minglanilla town (in the south) and Consolacion town to Danao City (in the north) while Piston has members in Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities.
In all, Laconza claimed that they comprise at least 45 percent of the total number of passenger jeepneys in Metro Cebu.
Manifesto
The participating drivers and operators will converge at 8 a.m. in front of the LTFRB 7 office at the Cebu North Reclamation Area.
After a short program, Laconza said they will submit their manifesto opposing the phaseout plan to LTFRB 7 office.
He said the jeepneys may stop at 7 a.m. or others will decide not to ply their respective routes in the morning.
While saying that they are not staging a transport strike or holiday, Laconza said they may as well be doing so because most of them won’t service their routes.
“But rest assured that we will resume our operation in the afternoon,” Laconza said in Cebuano.
Absolute necessity
Joy Tumulak, operations chief of the Cebu City Transportation Office, said he talked to Greg Perez of Piston who told him that they will march from Mabolo towards LTFRB-7 office and then to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) office.
Tumulak said they will assign traffic enforcers to monitor the groups and deploy Kaoshiung buses to pick up stranded commuters.
“Personnel will be deployed to ensure that traffic remains manageable and those public utility vehicle drivers that won’t join will not be harassed in the roads by their rallying counterparts,” CCTO executive director Rey Gealon said.
He said CCTO already has a protocol and template they follow in case of any transport strikes or rallies just like today.
“Most of the drivers and operators understand the absolute necessity of an efficient, safe, clean, sustainable and comfortable mass public transport system – which these strikers, in whatever capacity, fail to deliver thus far,” Gealon said.
Inevitable
LTFRB board member lawyer Ariel Inton clarified that there is no mandatory order from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to phase out 15-year old jeepneys.
“In case there would be modernization, it is for the riding public’s safety and convenience,” he said.
Inton also clarified that there is a separate order in phasing out 15-year old bus units which has been implemented by the LTFRB.
Yu admitted that the phaseout plan of passenger jeepneys cannot be avoided in the future.
“As far as the idea of phasing out the jeepneys, that’s inevitable. We are headed there but the question is when.
That’s the big question. But there should be a public consultation on it,” he said.