THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Northern Mindanao will be monitoring drivers and operators who will join the two-day nationwide transport strike starting Monday, October 16.
LTFRB-Northern Mindanao regional director Aminoden Guro said they will be keeping an eye on the transport protesters but at the same time they will be afforded the due process.
Guro has reminded public utility vehicle operators and drivers that joining transport strikes are prohibited and those who are found to have violated that provision will be penalized.
“We will give them the chance to explain why they have not operated during the transport strike,” Guro said on the public utility jeepney (PUJ) operators and drivers who might be joining the protest action.
It could be that the drivers and operators have been harassed or they fear that the roads will be filled with spikes that would hamper their operation.
Guro said they will give consideration if PUJ operators and drivers could give their justification as to why they will not operate on Monday and Tuesday.
To ensure that commuters will not be inconvenienced by the transport strike, Guro said the LTFRB-10 will provide buses to ferry people who may be traveling on those days.
He said he has requested the three major bus companies to lend a few of their units for public use during the transport strike.
Guro said eight buses will be available to ferry commuters to and from the eastern and western parts of the city until the strike ends at 4 p.m.
He said he has also coordinated with the police and military to deploy some of their personnel to act as bus marshals in case of any untoward incident.
Guro said contact numbers will be put on the buses so commuters can contact the bus drivers.
The buses, he added, will be on standby at the city hall grounds to wait for deployment orders.
Meanwhile, thousands of PUJ operators and drivers are expected to join the strike, according to a transport group leader on Sunday.
Ringo Lago, secretary-general of the Solidarity of Transport in Region X (Northern Mindanao)-Pagkakaisa ng Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Starex-Piston), said majority of its members and even those not affiliated with their group will participate in the protest action.
“Even [Starex-Piston] non-members will join the protest action because they will also be affected of this phase-out. In fact, all sectors are affected,” Lago said in an interview Sunday.
Aside from the drivers and operators, other sectors such as the farmers, workers, urban poor, vendors, and others, will take to the streets in support of the protest action.
The government is planning on abolishing the traditional PUJs and will be substituted by new jeepneys that are either electricity-operated or compliant to the Euro 4 fuel standards. PUJ operators and drivers are given about three years to replace their old PUJs.
Transport groups have complained that the new PUJs are too expensive although the government has assured them that operators will be given financial assistance.
He said Starex-Piston is a member of the No to Jeepney Phaseout Coalition, the group that leads the nationwide transport strike.
Lago said they have set up five “protest centers” where protesters can go to show their support.
He said drivers and operators who will not participate in the strike are advised to stay in their homes.
He said they are hoping to paralyze the mass transport during the two-day protest.
“If we were able to achieve 98 percent success in 2014, we hope we will attain the same because we are backed by other sectors,” he added.
The transport strike came in the wake of the implementation of martial law in Mindanao, but Lago said they are pursuing the protest action as they will not be violating any law.
“The martial law is intended for terrorists. What we will be doing is a legitimate and legal protest. We have the right to protest,” he said.
In a statement, Malacanang said it has suspended classes at all levels, both public and private and government work nationwide on Monday.