THE transport strike yesterday did not paralyze public transport in metro Cebu.
Cebu City Transportation Office operations head Francisco Ouano said traffic flow was moderate during the entire protest by members of the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) in the Colon area.
“It did not paralyze our traffic. None of the buses we’ve prepared was used since 80 percent of our public utility jeepney drivers did not join the strike,” Ouano said.
Before the transport protest, City Hall prepared 15 government buses and arranged for 10 Ceres buses to ferry stranded passengers.
These were supposed to be deployed in Colon area and portions of N. Bacalso Ave. in Barangay Pardo. Buses were stationed in Talamban and the Capitol area.
Although yesterday’s demonstration was the third one organized by Piston this year, Ouano has been confident that it will not affect the riding public in Cebu City.
“So far, it has never paralyzed our public transport, that’s why we were positive that there will be no stranded passengers yesterday,” he said.
A similar scenario was observed in Mandaue City yesterday.
Glenn Antigua, chief for operations of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue City, said the vehicles they prepared were unused.
Antigua, however, acknowledged that Malacañang’s suspension of all classes and government office work also helped.
“Mostly baya gyud sa ma-stranded kining mga estudyante. Pasalamat ta gi-declare nga way klase (Those who were stranded in the past transport strikes were students. We are thankful that classes were suspended today [Monday]),” Antigua said.
Piston held a short program in Barangay Ibabao-Estancia, but the group immediately left for Cebu City.
In Lapu-Lapu City, only one city bus was used to transport passengers to Parkmall in Mandaue, and back to Lapu-Lapu.
City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Andy Berame said that only a few persons took the bus.
Demonstration
Dozens of demonstrators from multi-sectoral groups braved the rain and marched from P. Del Rosario St. to Colon St., Cebu City where they denounced the entry of rich business owners into the transport sector, which they said was being passed of as “transport modernization.” The plan has also coincided with the entry of app-based transport services.
The rally was led by Greg Perez of Piston, Jaime Paglinawan of Bayan-Visayas, and Julian Gabato of Kadamay Sugbo.
Perez said they did not intend to paralyze transport services but wanted to tell the government that the phaseout of jeepneys 15 years old and above would to lead to more hunger among urban poor families.
Perez said that while modernization is good, the Omnibus Franchise Guidelines (OFG), which will be implemented by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) through the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), favors only the rich.
“The DOTr and LTFRB want a minimum of 40 jeepney units every fleet management. So, jeepney operators who own only one, two or three units, which is their livelihood and has sent their children to school will be phased out,” Perez said.
Paglinawan said that yesterday’s march-rally was just a kickoff of their four-day “hunger rally” to be participated in by the farmers and fishermen from Bohol, Negros Oriental and other areas to denounce “the extreme poverty” of their sectors.
Paglinawan said the government must focus on poverty alleviation rather than phasing out the old passenger jeepneys.
On the other hand, Gabato said that while the urban poor is growing in number in Metro Cebu due to the lack of government programs in the rural areas, there is no clear indication to improve their living standard.
For his part, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 Director Ahmed Cuizon said that apparently, a transport strike can hardly be noticed yesterday.
He said that at any rate, the preparation of both local and national governments to ferry any stranded passengers were there including the standby buses to transport them.
PRO 7
The Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 said that the yesterday’s strike was generally peaceful.
PRO 7 Director Jose Espino said the dialogue last Sunday was helpful to maintain the peace and order throughout the program.
“It will now be our template during rallies and protests so that cause-oriented groups will be coordinating with us,” Espino said.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Joel Doria said that instead of the expected 300 members coming from the Piston and other cause-oriented groups, the police estimated only 80 protest participants. (JOB, FMG, RTF, EOB)