Strike among the options; Transport group plans protest action on Monday

CEBU, Philippines - Members of the National Confederation of Transportworkers Union-Visayas will support the planned nationwide strike by their counterparts in Manila on Monday.

“Mao na ang among na desisyonan sa among meeting karon nga mo-support mi,” said Romeo Armamento, NCTU-Visayas national vice president.

He, however, said that they still need to decide what protest action to take—all of them would join the strike, just representatives would join the strike, or they would hold a rally at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-7 office.

Ryan Yu, general manager of the Cebu Integrated Transport Service Multi-purpose Cooperative (CITRASCO), one of Cebu's biggest transport groups, on the other hand, said they, too, still have to decide this Friday whether to join or not.

To recall, several transport groups in Cebu held a rally last year to protest against the draft memorandum by the Department of Transportation and Communications (now DOTr) that set a mandatory age limit for public utility jeepneys, which would eventually be phased out as a mode of mass transportation in the country.

Yu said that their group is not against transport modernization but if the PUJ phase out would be implemented, then the government must provide an alternative mass transport. He said that if the 15-year-old and above PUJs are banned, 50 percent of the existing 11,000 PUJs in Cebu would have to stay off the streets.

Ahmed Cuizon, LTFRB-7 director, said that instead of going on a strike, transport groups can resort to starting an online petition to get the support of those who are sympathetic to their cause. (FREEMAN)