ANOTHER FAILURE. Public utility jeepneys serve commuters in East Avenue, Quezon City on Monday (April 15, 2024). The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board said the start of the supposed two-day nationwide transport strike did not have significant effects. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)
ANTIPOLO CITY – The city government reported that an ongoing strike launched by two transport organizations with nationwide memberships failed to paralyze the movement of commuters here.
In an online post on Monday, Mayor Casimiro Ynares III said there appears to be no stranded commuters along the streets and operations in the city’s three major public utility jeepney (PUJ) terminals were normal.
He said local PUJ operators and drivers refused to take part in the two-day protest action of Piston and Manibela.
“Thanks to the almost 2,000 members of the Federation of Antipolo Public Transport Operators and Drivers Inc. who did not join the strike so our commuters will continue to have transportation,” Ynares said.
Meanwhile, Orlando Marquez Sr., national president of Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators sa Pilipinas (LTOP), said their organization’s members in Calabarzon Region committed to reject the strike altogether.
He pointed out that it was evident that public transportation was “business as usual” and that commuters were able to get rides in major routes without difficulty.
Marquez noted that the continued resistance to the government’s long-delayed Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program is a lost cause and it is time for the transport sector to embrace the need for bigger, more fuel-efficient and environment-friendly vehicles.
“Even when combined, they (Piston and Manibela) make up less than 10 percent of the country’s transport sector. They are a minority and they will not dictate upon the majority. Their frequent strikes have become a very bad vice that they should get rid of,” he told the Philippine News Agency.
Some members of Piston and Manibela are also plying their routes in defiance of their leaders, Marquez added. (PNA)
