And so, the old tenants of Clark Freeport Zone which hosts Clark Development Corporation and the Clark International Airport Corporation, have been asked by BCDA to vacate their areas and relocate elsewhere like Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga and, possibly, New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac. The Philippine Air Force units, thus, have to go after spending considerable time inside the Zone.
The areas to be vacated by the Philippine Air Force units will put to better use by the BCDA as these are prim real estate which could boost the agency’s development plans.
There would be no major shift in the security issue of the Zone as it is well-entrenched in its security plan and direction, thus, there is no need for the PAF to stay longer on its previously designated areas.
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PUV modernization program. Expectedly, opposition to this program has been registered, among which is one transport group which made good its protest and struck last Monday, March 6, 2023.
Well, as always, the commuter is the one at the losing end. Aside from the tremendous pressure and inconvenience, the passenger usually loses his opportunity to report for work and thus affects his service record.
The proponents of the modernization program must have thought of it very extensively, its pros and cons considred seriously and intelligently. As it is, too many jeepney operators just cannot afford the costs of the vehicles intended to be used as replacements for the old traditional jeeps which are almost all above fifteen years old and are no longer road worthy and are ausceptible to break downs and accidents.
Some of the drivers do not welcome the idea of joining existing jeepney cooperatives but in reality, the costs and the processes and paperwork needed to set up new cooperatives are harder to accomplish.
Still, the striking jeepneey drivers, mostly belonging to the marginalized sector have much to lose in the protests. Their families are the ones suffering due to this protest action.
