Monday, September 29, 2008 Dureza: Transport holidays hurt commuters
PRESS Secretary Jesus Dureza on Sunday called on concerned government agencies to hold a dialogue with the public transportation sector to determine their concerns and how it could be addressed.
The said dialogue is also aimed at preventing the conduct of a transport holiday being planned by the Pinag-Isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston).
Dureza said in an interview over Radyo ng Bayan that transport holidays only end up hurting the commuting public especially those who are working.
Transport holiday is a violation of one's franchise, which the government could use against the operators and drivers who would join such activity and end up disrupting transportation service, added Dureza.
"If they have complaints, they bring it to the proper agency but if they politicize it like transport holidays, it is the public they are hurting. The rich people have their own cars, but workers will lose one day work. They will be the one's to suffer," he said.
Dureza acknowledged that some sectors like students may welcome a transport holiday because they could end up having their classes suspended and those in the public utility vehicle business might feel it is their only option to get the attention of the government and eventually address their plight.
"It's a good opportunity for our officials concerned to have a dialogue with them or some kind of a negotiation with them because we know the intention of these operators is really not to punish commuters...they're just using this opportunity to air out their plight, which is part of democracy also," he said.
Piston secretary general George San Mateo said a transport holiday remains an option if the government and oil companies would continue to refuse to remove the value-added tax (VAT) from fuel products and make a "big-time" oil price rollback, respectively.
The group added that the government particularly the Department of Energy could pressure the major oil firms into effecting a big-time price rollback as the recent rollbacks of P1 to P3 per liter are insufficient.
San Mateo stressed that Piston does not want to inconvenience the public in the conduct of strikes and transport holiday, but they too would benefit in the long run as they also suffer from the effects of high fuel prices. (JMR/Sunnex)
