NO TRANSPORT STRIKE. Operations of public utility vehicles in Dagupan City remains normal amid the nationwide transport strike call of the Manibela group on Monday (Oct.16, 2023). Atty. Anabel Marzan-Nullar, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Ilocos region director made the confirmation but said they continue to monitor the situation. (Screen grab from Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez's live stream)
MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – Ilocos Region on Monday was strike-free as driver's groups did not join the nationwide protest by Manibela on Monday.
Atty. Anabel Marzan-Nullar, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Ilocos region director, made the confirmation and said public utility vehicle (PUV) operations in the region remain normal based on their monitoring as of noontime.
Nullar attributed the zero participation to the strike here to the support of transport groups from the four provinces of the region to the PUV Modernization Program.
“All of them are supportive of the modernization program, but they want it to be implemented slowly, which is what we have been doing since 2017,” she said.
Nullar said the national government, through the LTFRB, has been providing different kinds of subsidies to PUV drivers such as fuel subsidy, entrepreneurship, Tsuper Iskolar (Driver Scholar) and Libreng Sakay (Free Ride) programs, and assistance whenever they take out loans from banks.
Tsuper Iskolar is a joint program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) that provides skills training and assistance to public transportation sector workers affected by the PUV Modernization Program.
In turn, the Libreng Sakay was previously implemented by the LTFRB but is now an initiative of the local government. It provides financial assistance to transport service providers through performance-based payouts.
Nullar said PUV drivers and operators here decided not to join the transport strike because they knew its economic impact on their families.
She, however, disclosed that the agency has contingency plans in case of transport strikes
She said there are over 8,000 PUV drivers and operators in the region.
Relatively, Alliance United Transport Organization Provincewide (AUTOPRO) Pangasinan president Bernard Tuliao, in a radio interview Monday, said they did not join the strike because they are satisfied with how the Office of the Transport Cooperative is addressing issues concerning the public transportation sector.
He said what Manibela is fighting for is the sake of individual drivers.
In the case of AUTOPRO members in the region, he said they have benefited from the Office of the Transport Cooperative and that the fuel subsidy program has a great impact on their livelihood.
Manibela said the transport strike was reasonable given the questionable implementation of the PUV modernization program. (PNA)
