BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Two transport groups – the Sentrong Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Negros (SSTONE) and the Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association (FEBACDA) – are not joining the proposed five-day transport strike by the end of this month.
According to Bacolod City councilor Dindo Ramos, chairman of the city council’s Committee on Transportation and Traffic, he met with the two groups and explained to them that drivers and operators themselves will be the ones to suffer should they decide to strike.
The councilor also sent a message to United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (UNDOC) secretary general Diego Malacad asking him to reconsider their plan to strike because such will only lead to hunger among driver-members.
Ramos advised Malacad to instead forward his concerns to local congressmen who could craft resolutions calling for the temporarily suspension of the modernization program for Public Utility Vehicles (PUVs), one of the issues being protested by UNDOC.
Ramos assured Malacad he would forward a resolution before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to allow a one-year probationary authority for traditional jeepneys to continue operations.
UNDOC has two demands to the national government so it won’t push through with the strike – defer the full implementation of the 12-percent value added tax on fuel and suspension of the excise tax also on fuel.
Gas prices soared by as much as P3.80 per liter of gasoline and P5.50 per liter of diesel on Tuesday, and another oil price hike is being eyed by next week.
The incessant increase in fuel prices stems from the adverse economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine./PN
