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Monday, March 29, 2004
Trafeco set to join strike on Wednesday
By Stephen Capillas
* Transport wants either fuel price rollback or P1.50 rebate
* Gov't belittles transport strike, to grant a reasonable fare increase
AFTER days of wrangling and indecision, the Transport Federation of Cagayan de Oro (Trafeco) said it would join its comrades in other parts of the country in a nationwide transport strike, which starts Monday and ends on Wednesday this week in Luzon and Visayas.
In an interview over radio station dxIF, Trafeco President Virgilio Valmoria confirmed this adding that they held a meeting with other group members for this purpose on Sunday.
In deciding to join the transport strike, Valmoria said while their group doesn't want an increase in fare rates they are demanding for either an oil price rollback or a fuel price discount similar to that granted to Manila public transport drivers.
The three-day transportation strike comes on the heels of another recent transport strike that paralyzed most of Luzon and Visayas as well as the cities of Iligan, Butuan and Davao in Mindanao.
The Cagayan de Oro transport sector didn't join the protest action with Trafeco saying it would wait for negotiations between the National Transport Union, which it is affiliated with, and concerned government transport agencies.
However Valmoria, who is also National Transport Union vice president in Mindanao, said they have waited long enough and would join the transport strike on the last day of this month.
"On our transport strike we are asking public utility vehicle (PUV) operators to join us in our cause. However we will not stop anyone from traveling and we won't place spikes (locally known as suyak) in the road. We won't stage rallies and if someone else does that doesn't come from us," Valmoria explained.
Legitimate
Valmoria said in lieu of an oil price rollback they want a P1.50 oil rebate or discount and cited the P2.10 fuel rebate granted to Manila public transport drivers to justify their petition.
"Instead we only got a P1 rebate offered to us by two gasoline stations. This rebate doesn't apply to us only but should be granted to private vehicle owners as well," he said in Visayan.
He also said they are indignant over a previous threat issued by the Palace to confiscate the franchises of those PUV operators who joined in the transport strike adding that they are only voicing their legitimate concerns that affect their livelihood.
Meanwhile, Regional Director Mandangan Darimbang of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 10 assured there won't be any confiscation of franchises because the PUV drivers and operators are expressing their legitimate concerns.
"As the word states it is a transport pahulay or rest and we cannot penalize them for taking a rest or break to fix their vehicles and such, " he said.
Darimbang said he met with the drivers and added that they aren't interested in increasing the fare rates because they know the adverse effects it would pose on prices of consumer goods.
"In fact they are more vocal about the undercharging of fares especially with buses plying the Iligan route. Otherwise our agency handles fare rate petitions but not fuel price increases, that is not under our functions," he said.
Reasonable
Valmoria said they will wait until Tuesday, March 30, for the government to answer their petition. If the answer turns up negative they will join the strike.
Darimbang also asked that the transport strike be carried out peacefully, a concern echoed by Mayor Vicente Emano who blamed the oil deregulation law as the cause behind the transportation strike.
"While it is their right to strike I am appealing to these drivers to please understand the plight of the riding public especially the poor people who can't afford their own vehicles and rely on public transporation," he said in Visayan.
In a related development Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye Sunday said the Arroyo administration believes that the three-day transportation strike this week "would be a dud as only a minority would join the activity.
Bunye said in a radio interview that the "more reasonable" transportation groups continue to heed the call of the government to forego a strike.
He said they are aware that the government is doing what it can to ease the impact of the recent series of oil price increases and would accordingly address their request for a fare hike.
Bunye said the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) would come out with a reasonable fare increase. (With Sunnex)
(March 29, 2004 issue)
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