NOW what was logic of the presidential Memorandum Circular No. 29 all about anyway?
The memo suspended classes and work in ALL Levels for both public and private schools and other government offices for October 16-17, 2017 on the “basis of the continuous strike” and “possible inclement weather.”
Malacañang suspended work in all government offices and classes in both public and private schools nationwide to minimize inconvenience due to the two-day transport strike.
Last week, the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) announced that it will hold a two-day transport strike to force the Duterte administration government to junk the transport modernization program.
And the macho President Duterte blinked. Yes, blinked. That seems to be so out of character for a president who dared to defy the US government and the European Union.
Earlier, the Palace said these would resume because the strike “barely affected the riding public.” And then government announced that work and classes would remain suspended nationwide yesterday.
What strike? Certainly not in Bacolod. In fact, the city’s three transportation groups have refused to join the nationwide strike.
Judging from previous transport strikes, these Bacolod groups are not all bluster and hot air. When they say they will paralyze public transport, traffic comes to a standstill, to the inconvenience of the riding public.
In fact, the jeepney drivers themselves were inconvenienced because they had fewer student passengers.
Where’s the logic of forcing Visayan and Mindanaoan cities to suspend classes and government services then?
The purported nationwide transport strike on October 16 failed to cripple Cebu’s transport system. Cebuano protesters had to disperse early due to heavy downpour near noontime.
The logic of Memorandum Circular No. 29 escapes me. The document was not even full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Yet there has got to be some logic behind the hoopla and ho-hum news. The way I see it, there’s more to this than meets the eyes. Let’s see in the coming days.
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bqsanc@yahoo.com