EDITORIAL — Again, why punish the wrong people?

Yesterday was the first day of a three-day nationwide transport strike staged by the transport group Manibela.

The leadership of Manibela said the protest was against excessive penalties, the failure to renew franchises, and a pervasive "payola culture" in government agencies like the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the Department of Transportation (DoTr), and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

“Pasensya napo wala pong biyahe dahil ginigipit kami ng gobyerno particular ang DOTr, LTFRB at LTO,” Manibela said in a Facebook post.

Just last September, Manibela was one of three transport groups that held a joint transport protest. That time it was for corruption in the flood-control projects.

Yes, it is the right of every citizen or group to air their grievances and in whatever way or form they want, as long as it doesn’t directly hurt or infringe upon the rights of others; but transport strikes do more harm than good.

Same as back in September, our point remains the same. Transport protests such as these, while successful in conveying their outrage, only hurt the wrong people; the drivers themselves as well as their passengers.

The people they want to sway, the bigwigs of the LTO, DoTr, and LTFRB are completely unaffected because most if not all of them have private or government-issued cars and do not take public transportation. Those who do are likely the rank-and-file employees who have no part in the decisions made by those offices. And the public cannot be convinced to share in Manibela’s grievances against the LTO, DoTr, and LTFRB by stranding them for hours with no way to get home.

So, again, why punish the wrong people? Because of their protests, Manibela drivers will not earn anything for three days. Because of their protests, commuters in Metro Manila will have difficulty heading to work and back for three days. Meanwhile, the top officials of these government agencies they are protesting against will be unmoved because they won’t be inconvenienced in the slightest.