I WAS going to give the subject a rest. After all, the transport strike was last Monday yet.
And depending on who you want to believe, the activity was a success, as claimed by Piston Cebu coordinator Greg Perez, who said they were able to paralyze 80 percent of jeepney routes in Metro Cebu, or a dud, as claimed by Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board 7 Director Ahmed Cuizon, who said the strike only affected 20 percent of the routes since many jeepneys were out on the streets.
Either way, I was prepared to “move on,” as they say.
But the letter that Piston Cebu sent to SunStar Cebu, which appeared on tell_it_to_sunstar in the Opinion Section, continued to haunt me.
Here’s what the last part said:
“Ang serbisyong transportasyon dili angayang ibutang sa mga kamot sa pribadong negosyo.”
Seriously, Piston Cebu? Transportation should not be in the hands of private businesses.
Why? Who do you think owns all those jeepneys plying our roads? In fact, a big chunk must belong to its members, otherwise Piston wouldn’t have been able to “paralyze 80 percent of jeepney routes in Metro Cebu” last Monday, as its Cebu coordinator proudly flaunted.
The problem, though, is precisely that. Public transportation, such as public utility jeepneys, is in the hands of private individuals.
And as a result, commuters have no choice. They’re hostages to the jeepney driver’s every whim and fancy.
The group staged last Monday’s nationwide transport strike to express their opposition to a provision of the government’s PUJ modernization program that bans all public utility vehicles 15 years and older from plying their routes.
Its members say they can’t afford the more environmentally-friendly, more comfortable, foreign-owned vehicles the government is proposing as replacement to vehicles that will be phased out.
And so they will hang on to their smoke-belching, moving tin coffins for dear life.
Under the current setup, you see, the jeepney driver is the “king of the road.”
He weaves in and out of traffic. Flagrantly violates traffic laws. Begs for leniency when caught. Uses poverty and hardship as excuses for his reckless driving. Oh, and drives when he feels like it.
Meanwhile, commuters can only cover their noses or wait for the driver to finish his siesta, while silently hoping for an end to the road chaos that they have to endure every day.
Because, as I see it, the jeepney driver doesn’t want to relinquish these “privileges.” Or, to be cliché about it, Piston wants to have its cake and eat it, too.
So anything that might improve the lot of the majority, these people oppose.
With that said, I wonder if Perez takes the jeepney.