THERE will be no suspension of classes in public schools in Bacolod City during the two-day transport strike of United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (Undoc) on June 5 and 6, the city mayor announced on Friday, June 2.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia said based on their assessment with the Department of Education, Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), the transport strike could not paralyze the transportation to merit the suspension of classes.
“Maybe to a certain extent, the transport strike can cause some inconvenience to the riding public, but not to the degree that it would be necessary to suspend classes,” Leonardia said.
Undoc had earlier announced that they will hold a transport strike in time for the opening of classes.
Leonardia said it is the right of the transport group to hold a strike and they will not stop them.
The protest action will denounce the plan to phase out public utility buses and jeepneys 15 years old and above as provided in House Bill 4334.
The mayor said suspending classes would be impractical on the part of the students for they will miss the first two days of school.
The City Government will deploy two buses and 10 trucks of trash hauler IPM-Construction and Development Corp. to seven barangays to ferry passengers.
Handumanan will have three trucks; Estefania and Mansilingan, two trucks each; Alangilan, one truck; and Sum-ag and Bata, one bus each.
The buses and trucks will pick up passengers from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Leonardia said they make sure that the trucks are clean and fit for human transportation.
A command center will be set up at the Bacolod Government Center manned by personnel of LTFRB and BCPO with hotline numbers 707-0000 and 435-0055.
Ma. Joscet Buyco-Abellar, legal officer of LTFRB-Western Visayas, and Renato Novero, head of LTO-Bacolod, said they can also provide buses for big number of stranded commuters in Negros Occidental.
2 groups won’t join
The Federation of Bacolod Drivers Association and Sentrong Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators sa Negros sought assistance from Bacolod City Police Office to possibly protect their driver-members who will not participate in the two-day transport strike.
Elizabeth Katalbas of Febacda and Sstone head Jessie Ortega went to the BCPO on Friday to facilitate their request for police visibility on the streets, considering that 80 percent of public utility vehicles, jeepneys, and buses will continue to ply the streets on June 5 and 6.
They said Undoc-affiliated public utility vehicles (PUVs) are only about 20 percent.
Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky, acting director of BCPO, said: “This is a good development because we know that there will be no total transport paralysis next week. We assured them that the police will be there to secure Febacda and Sstone drivers who will not join the strike.”
Katalbas said they will not join because they have already met with LTFRB Regional Director Richard Osmeña, who assured them that the phasing out of the 15-year-old PUVs and public utility buses will take four years to get fully implemented.
“We were enlightened by his explanation to us when he was here in Bacolod City recently,” she added.
Ortega also said that many operators and drivers were misinformed about the phase-out issue thus, it is good that Osmeñat helped enlighten the transport sector.