Transport teams hailed the latest transport strike as profitable, after the federal government agreed to revisit facets of the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program.
Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON) National President Modesto “Mody” Floranda on Wednesday mentioned the federal government has agreed to revise the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines, in cooperation with the transport sector.
“‘Yun pong mga tinalakay sa kanilang issue na kinakaharap ay kagyat na tinugunan ng Office of the (Executive) Secretary at ang isa rito ay ‘yung muling pagrerebisa dun sa Omnibus Franchising Guidelines nung 2017,” mentioned Floranda in a press convention.
(The points had been urgently responded to by the Office of the Executive Secretary, and one in every of these is the revision of the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines of 2017.)
He was referring to Department Order 2017-011 or the Omnibus Guidelines on the Planning and Identification of Public Road Transportation Services and Franchise Issuance, of which transport teams have protested in opposition to.
PUV teams have scheduled a week-long transport strike from March 6 to 12, to specific their opposition to the PUV Modernization Program, as operators have appealed to provide them extra time to shift to fashionable jeepneys past the June 30 deadline.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) prolonged the deadline to December 31, 2023 following the announcement of the transport strike, in deference of a Senate decision and the request of Bautista.
“Ang dalawang araw na transport strike ay sinasabi nga nating matagumpay (The first two days of the transport strike were successful),” Floranda mentioned, claiming that some 80% to 100% of nationwide roads in Metro Manila had been paralyzed within the first day, and almost 80% on the second day.
“Ibig sabihin niyan ay malinaw nating narehistro ‘yung ating posisyon kaugnay dito sa kinakaharap ng ating sektor, ng ating public transport na kung saan ay yung mga lumalabas na Executive Order ay ‘yung planong pagtatanggal sa ating kabuhayan at karapatan bilang serbisyo publiko,” he added.
(This implies that we clearly registered our place according to the problems our sector, the general public transport, is going through, the place evidently the Executive Order plans to take away our livelihood, our rights as a public service.)
The week-long transport strike was minimize quick, after representatives of PISTON and Manibela met with President Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil and Office of the Executive Secretary Undersecretary Roy Cervantes on Tuesday afternoon.
The PUV modernization program began in 2017, aiming to exchange jeepneys with automobiles which have a minimum of a Euro 4-compliant engine to minimize air pollution, however drivers and operators complained concerning the prices which may hit over P2 million.
Transport officers have since mentioned that conventional jeepneys can nonetheless function past the set deadline, supplied that they be part of transport cooperatives to forestall “on-street competition” amongst drivers and operators.
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday mentioned that he needs to make sure that no driver will lose their job over the federal government’s PUV Modernization program. Marcos additionally thanked transport teams for his or her determination to finish the strike. —VAL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
