No strike, but city ready

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government assured that the public transportation situation in the city today would be normal.

"Yes, makapasalig gyud mi nga dili ma-cripple atong transportation tomorrow (July 21)," said City Traffic Operations Management operations chief Joy Tumulak yesterday.

Majority of transport groups excluding PISTON-Cebu decided not to push through with the strike after Department of Transportation and Communication Secretary Jun Abaya directed officials from Land Transportation Office-7 and the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board-7 to get all the complaints and documents of the transport groups so the joint order will be reviewed.

Because of this commitment from DOTC, transport leaders have agreed not to resort to strike and are expected to submit all their suggestions today to LTFRB-7 and LTO-7.

Acting Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella said that the City has prepared 86 vehicles to augment the public transportation, just in case.

"Maayo pod unta og motuman ang atong mga transport groups sa ilang saad not to conduct transport strike kay dili pod maayo kon mag-suffer ang mga Sugboanon, kay dili raba sala nila," he said.

Labella said making preparations for a transport strike was one of the instructions Mayor Michael Rama gave him before leaving for a month's vacation.

"Bisan pa og giplanohan nga dili modayon, matud pa ni Mayor Rama nga mas maayong andam gyod kanunay… It's better to be prepared than not prepared at all," he said.

He said that the City prepared 24 Kaohsiung buses, 33 barangay vehicles and 14 Ceres buses. Ten buses were also pledged by the Cebu Institute of Technology-University and five trucks by Central Command to be on standby.

Tumulak said that vehicles prepared by the city will be stationed in Mambaling, City Hall and in the Fuente Osmeña rotunda. He said that CITOM enforcers will be monitoring in their areas and will report to the command center if they spot stranded commuters.

Labella said that policemen and barangay tanods will be deployed in the thoroughfares to maintain security. He said that he will be at the command center at Mambaling at 5 a.m. today to monitor the flow of the public transportation.

"Nagpasalamat ko's mga transport groups nga majority gyod nila ang ni-commit nga dili gyod mag-strike, ug dako kaayo ko'g pagsalig nga motuman sila," he said.

Labella added they will still help the transport groups air their grievances to the national agencies that imposed the stiffer fines.

PISTON-Cebu to hold transport rally in Mandaue

Mandaue City commuters should prepare for some inconvenience after a transport group announced they will be holding a rally today from Barangay Ibabao-Estancia to the City Hall in Mandaue City.

Greg Perez, president of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper and Opereytors Nationwide-Cebu said that their member drivers of jeepneys, tricycles and multicabs will be joining the said rally.

"Di ni siya strike but rally lang. Pero naa gyuy gamay nga epekto sa trasportasyon labi na sa ruta sa Mandaue," said Perez yesterday.

He said that they will hold a short program in front of the City Hall after which they will submit their petition to the City Council urging them to pass a resolution in support of the scrapping of the Joint Administrative Order 2014-01.

"Ang among panawagan nga ang tibuok JAO, ipabasura gyud tungod kay unconstitutional kini," said Perez.

The joint order, which prescribes heavier penalties and fines for traffic violations, was jointly implemented by the DOTC, LTO and LTFRB last July 19. It also raised the fines imposed on those found operating colorum vehicles to up to P1 million.

The controversial joint order drew a lot of protests and complaints from drivers and operators nationwide.

Perez, however, said that their counterparts in Manila moved for the scrapping of the said joint order, not just a partial implementation.

Strike not a solution

Governor Hilario Davide III said a strike is not an immediate solution to air concerns regarding the implementation of the joint order.

"There are so many ways nga mapadungog ilang reklamo or what they want to say. They can always go to court to question the JAO. They can petition the LTFRB," he told reporters, adding that the operators and drivers are causing the riding public inconvenience with any strike.

"I heard from (Ahmed) Cuizon, they were given time to question (it) yet they did not take advantage… They just want to paralyze the transpo," Davide said, referring to the director of LTFRB-7.

Davide further advised the drivers to be cautious instead and do away with committing violations.

"With regards to penalty, di ta kasabot sa ubang drivers nga illegal na ang ila, question-on pa gyod nila ang penalties," he said, referring to those operating colorum vehicles.

Work at the Capitol will not be suspended, Davide said. However, he assured that enough buses will be made available to transport the employees and the stranded passengers. — With Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon and Michael Vencynth H. Braga/BRP