THERE will be no government work and classes in all levels nationwide today, the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) said.
As per order of Executive Secretary Salvador Mendialdea, Communications Sec. Martin Andanar announced on Sunday the suspension of classes in both public and private schools and work in all government offices nationwide to avoid public inconvenience due to a planned two-day transport strike.
“The private sector will not be covered (but subject to the discretion of employers). As to suspension of government work, we shall issue the usual memorandum circular,” Malacañang said.
The Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) and other transport groups are set to conduct a transport strike from Oct. 16 to 17 to oppose the government’s Public Utility Jeepney (PUJ) phaseout program.
The Piston Group in Cebu said it will go on transport strike today with 150 to 300 drivers to support their colleagues in Metro Manila who are opposing the jeepney modernization scheme.
The strike is the third one organized by Piston this year.
This is the group’s protest against the Department of Transportation’s proposed jeepney modernization program that seeks to phase out jeepneys that are older than 15 years, among others.
Malacañang, though, clarified that the suspension will only be for Monday.
With this, the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board said it will deploy buses with special permits to convey passengers who will be affected by the protest.
In Cebu, Piston Cebu coordinator Greg Perez said that they will conduct their activities in “protest centers” in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
Perez added that close to 200 members have already committed to join the strike.
In Cebu City, around 25 private and government buses will be deployed in key areas today to ferry stranded passengers.
Cebu City Transportation Office operations head Francisco Ouano said City Hall has prepared 15 buses on top of the 10 buses Ceres Liners will deploy.
These will be deployed in the Colon area and in portions of N. Bacalso Ave. along Barangay Pardo. Buses will also be stationed in Talamban and in the Capitol area.
In a text message to SunStar Cebu, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that while he doesn’t think the suspension is necessary, the City Government will follow the OES’ orders.
Five Ceres buses in Mandaue and another five in Lapu-Lapu City will also be deployed for transport augmentation.
Mandaue has also prepared two flatbed trucks, a Kaoshiung bus and seven L300 vans.
In an earlier report, Glenn Antigua, chief for operations of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue, said commuters will be paying a fare for taking the Ceres bus.
The bus fare, though, will be just the same with the standard PUJ fare.
Antigua added that City Administrator Danilo Almendras issued a memorandum to department heads to make their vehicles available for the riding public in case the strike will create a huge impact.
Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing, in a Facebook post, said that all rescue, emergency and traffic responders will be on duty today.
In Lapu-Lapu City, Mayor Paz Radaza said free rides in City-owned buses and barangay vehicles will be made available in designated terminals in Barangays Pajo and Tamiya.
Piston-Cebu head Greg Perez said that although there are 11,000 passenger jeepneys in Region 7, mostly in Cebu, they don’t want to paralyze transport, but just want to express their concerns.
Perez said they will protest why the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) are favoring the rich corporations and wealthy individuals who seem to monopolize the transport system in the country.
He said that in the Omnibus Franchise Guidelines (OFG), DOTr and LTFRB want fleet management or fleet service businesses for jeepneys.
For his part, LTFRB 7 Director Ahmed Cuizon said they issued special permits to about 20 Ceres buses of Vallacar Transit Corp. to transport stranded passengers.
Of the 20 buses, 10 will be assigned to Cebu City, five in Mandaue City and five in Lapu-Lapu City.
Cuizon said that all the Ceres buses with special permits will display tarpaulins and will not be apprehended for their out-of-line operations today and tomorrow. The buses will be escorted by police.
“These buses are authorized to collect a fare of P10 per passenger per ride,” Cuizon said.
Meanwhile, Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative (Citrasco) Chairman Benjamin Ryan Yu said their members who drive 1,000 passenger jeepneys and 200 taxi units are not joining the strike because they support the jeepney modernization. (RTF, EOB)