We must have reforms in the transpo sector

So there was a nationwide transportation strike yesterday, no wonder traffic was light. Of course traffic is always light whenever there is no work or classes which the national government announced so as not to disturb the people who often go to work and end up getting stuck in their respective offices because they just can't go home. Same thing is true with our students from all levels in our schools.

So let's get to the bottom of this protest that the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) and Stop and Go Coalition committed to do on a nationwide basis, which then forced the government to declare a holiday from work and from school.

However, not all transport groups joined this nationwide protest. These include the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations, Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators sa Pilipinas, and Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines. Because these groups did not join the nationwide strike, I would like to believe that this strike literally fizzled out here in Metro Cebu.

One of the reasons why the strike fizzled out in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu is due to the fact that these local governments deployed buses for commuters who needed them. In Cebu City, at least 15 Kaohsiung buses and Ceres buses were deployed, which has always been the practice of the City of Cebu for more than 20 years now.

I don't understand why these transport groups still insist on holding a nationwide strike when they know that these no longer work for their benefit. At best, they have only inconvenienced the public and worse, they help degrade the learning capability of our students because they cannot go to school. Of course the Department of Education is planning to conduct make-up classes, which for me is just as bad for our school kids!

The main reason for this transport strike is to protest the planned phase out of jeepneys that are 15 years old and older. I already wrote that one of the major issues why the popularity rating in the Social Weather Station surveys (but not in the Pulse Asia surveys) of Pres. Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte dropped is due to the reality that the reforms that he had promised the Filipino people during the presidential campaign have not yet been implemented. I can make a list of these promised reforms, but that would take much space in this column. So this phase out is actually a much-needed reform in or transport sector.

So let's just focus on the transportation issue. First of all, this nationwide protest was called against the phase out of old jeepneys. Again I would like to point out that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) should not give out franchises to owners of jeepneys who cannot afford to maintain their public transportation. If these people use their poverty as their excuse not to maintain their jeepneys, then they should be stricken off the list of jeepneys and be listed as recipients for the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

In my book, the reforms that the Department of Transportation should include are financial capacity to enter into the transportation business. Look at the bus business today, because buses like the ones that the Ceres Bus Company have been using are not cheap, the folks who enter into this business are those who have the financial capacity to invest into those expensive buses.

I dare say that LTFRB should demand the same for those in the jeepney groups who are the most ill-disciplined drivers on the road. Speaking of reforms, just a few nights ago, I still saw a jeepney plying the Guadalupe route at night without his headlights on. This could only happen because of lack of traffic enforcers at a certain time or if this erring jeepney driver is apprehended, he doesn't pay his traffic fines. When three months are up, this traffic violation lapses. So how can we instill discipline in our jeepney drivers? I dare say, get them off our streets if they refuse to obey our traffic rules or pay their traffic fines!

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