Driver groups claim Day 1 of work stoppage paralysed public transport

Manila: “Jeepney” drivers and operators kicked off a weeklong transport strike on Monday (March 6, 2023) in the Philippine capital to protest the planned phaseout of old transport vehicles under the government's public utility vehicle (PUV) modernisation programme.

Organisers are asking for a "sincere dialogue" with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

Under the scheme, transport franchises will be given to cooperatives or corporations, instead of individual owners or opertors, starting December 31, 2023.

On Monday, the drivers abandoned their old public unity jeepneys (PUJs) in their garages and instead took to the streets with protest placards, calling on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to scrap the phaseout.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr), meanwhile, warned drivers of PUJs who join the strike — who now face potential job loss due to the phaseout — would have to first face both “administrative and criminal” sanctions, including the revocation of their franchises.

The Philippine Constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly for redress of grievances. Many schools and universities had earlier declared the shift to online classes, after face-to-face classes were cancelled for a week from March 6 to 12, during the transport strike’s duration.

Drivers claim the phaseout of the iconic “jeepneys”, relics of World War II transport and are the king of last-mile transport in the Asian country, will deprive them of jobs.

And while they are not against transport modernisation itself, the protesters said are against the manner and the sequence it's being carried out: they are being forced to give up their old vehicles for Php200,000 (about $4,000). A new minibus will cost upwards of $29,000, an amount the drivers say they can ill afford.

According to the transportation group Piston, 80 per cent of Metro Manila's public transportation was affected starting Monday morning. Public transportation services to and from Cogeo in Antipolo, San Mateo in Rizal, Novaliches and Philcoa in Quezon City, and Monumento in Caloocan City were “nonexistent” as of 8 am, Piston president Mody Floranda told local media.

Piston (which stands for “Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide”), is one of the country’s biggest transport groups — but was not the main organiser of the strike — and initially stated they were not joining.

The modernisation drive is not being pushed by virtue of a law, but rather a policy arising from a memorandum executed by the Land Transport Regulatory and Franchising Board (LTRFB).

Manibela, another transport group, which claims up to 40,000 members, declared the strike last month to protest phaseout. On Saturday, Piston president Modesto Floranda declared ttheir estimated 100,000 drivers and operators decided to take join the no-drive week both in Manila and the provinces.

Metro Manila is composed of 16 cities and one municipality. He said at least seven jeepney lines in Cubao had been affected as of Monday. Baclaran, certain sections of Paranaque City, and Alabang were also reportedly cripped. Some drivers and operators protested in Monumento, Caloocan City. In Quezon City, drivers and supporters gathered on University Avenue to support the strike. 

Some local government units like Manila, Valenzuela, San Juan, and Pasay offered free rides for their constituencies affected by the strike. Drivers of private vehicles, meanwhile, said Manila’s roads were unusualy less clogged up as a result of the strike.

Meanwhile, Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has branded the week-long transport strike “communist-inspired and pointless”. Duterte said she was only stating a fact and not “red-tagging” — the practice of blacklisting individuals or organisations critical or not fully supportive of the actions of a sitting government in the Asian country.

The Philippines is one of the last countries with an active communist-inspired armed insurgency, raging since 1969, during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

President Marcos Jr., elected in May, had earlier appealed to the protesters to call off the strike, though he agreed that not all jeepneys should be phased out. He also extended the deadline from June 30 to December 31, 2023.

The Vice President, who is also the Education Secretary, singled out Piston as an organisation "with leaders and members poisoned by the beliefs" of the New People's Army, National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and the Communist Party of the Philippines in her most recent statement.

“This is not red-tagging. This is a statement of fact,” Duterte said. She stressed government's opposition to the transport strike because it is “problematic,” and will “hurt learners.”

The scene was a bit different in Pasig, where cops handed over snacks to the driver-protesters.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which represents the government, stated they have prepositioned vehicles to assist commuters. The MMDA also suspended the "number coding”, a congestion-busting scheme, in response to the strike.

Not all groups joined the protect action. Drivers and operators in Region 12 and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao opted to continue normal operations on Monday, according to the Philippine New Agency.

The government’s modernisation effort has their support, according to George Mangansakan, head of the Awang-Cotabato Transport Operators and Drivers' Association (ACTODA), which has about 3,000 members. "The protest is too long; how are our drivers going to make ends meet without pay for four days?”, he said during a radio interview.

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