Friday, May 09, 2008 No work stoppage on Monday: Sara By Grace L. Plata
IT'S going to be business as usual on May 12 as far as agencies under the City Government of Davao are concerned despite the nationwide strike to be staged by the transport sector.
Davao City Vice Mayor Sara Z. Duterte said the city would be fielding out buses to different parts of the city to provide easy transportation to the public, especially city employees who are still required to report Monday.
"There will be buses fielded out to Toril, Calinan and Bunawan. These will head for the city proper and all routes will be passing by the City Hall," Duterte said in a test message.
The service, however, is not for free and the riding public would have to pay regular fare.
The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) and Task Force Davao (TFD), she said, will be in-charge of the beefed-up security for that day.
"There will be police officers onboard the buses," Duterte said.
Transport group Transmission-Piston heads the nationwide strike in protest over the subsequent oil price hikes and the alleged inability of the government to regulate this.
Edilberto Gonzaga, spokesperson of Transmission-Piston, however, said they have lined-up a series of activities aside from the transport strike.
"There are mass actions being organized so that other sectors can join in because this is not just about drivers and transport groups but also consumers," Gonzaga said Wednesday.
In a statement, the group hit the government's "washing of hands" in the surge of oil price increase, saying: "the Arroyo administration's culpability is its continuing subservience to big oil companies and oil cartel".
They said the government's statement that drivers should reconsider their plans (for a transport strike) as the oil price hike is linked to world market increase implies that government should not be blamed for the subsequent increases.
"Malacañang's comment obviously manifests its washing of hands in the current plight of the drivers and the people," Gonzaga said.
