Transport strike cripples Negros

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Transport groups in Negros Occidental declared yesterday’s strike as a success, saying 99 percent of public utility vehicles (PUVs) participated.

Diego Malacad, secretary-general of the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center, said members of the Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association joined the strike, which was launched in protest against proposals to phase out aging jeepneys.  

However, Senior Superintendent Jack Wanky, Bacolod City police officer-in-charge, claimed only 60 percent of PUVs joined the strike.         

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the city government deployed two tourist buses and 12 trucks to ferry stranded passengers.

Classes in public schools and most private universities and colleges  in this city among them the Riverside, STI-West Negros University, Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod, St. John Institute, University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, University of St. La Salle, La Consolacion College-Bacolod and John B. Lacson Colleges Foundation were suspended.

The Vallacar Transit Inc., which operates buses on Negros island, did not join the strike.