BACOLOD City – The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) will deploy its personnel to ensure a peaceful transport strike.
Lieutenant Colonel Ronnie Brillo, BCPO spokesperson, said in a radio interview that BCPO director Colonel Noel Aliño has ordered that all police commanders coordinate with transport groups who will be participating in the strike against the government’s public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program.
Brillo assured the protesters that their rights would be respected, although he requested that they not stir any trouble, especially against other transport groups that continued operations.
The BCPO also deployed some of their vehicles as an alternative mode of transportation for stranded commuters.
The Bacolod Alliance for Commuters, Operators and Drivers Inc. (BACOD), one of the transport groups based in this city, is participating in the nationwide protest.
Rudy Catedral, BACOD president, said they would only suspend operations for a day. He has yet to say which day they will suspend their operations.
On the other hand, the Sentrong Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators Negros (SSTONE) and the Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association have announced that they will not participate in the transport strike.
SSTONE president Albert Villanueva said it is impossible to paralyze the city’s transportation grid during the strike, but he respects the decision of participating transport groups.
The nationwide strike, from Monday, Nov. 20, until Thursday, Nov. 23, is organized by transport groups Piston and Manibela. It is a protest against the impending Dec. 31 deadline for consolidating traditional public utility jeepneys into cooperatives or corporations.
Under the modernization program, all jeepneys must be replaced with vehicles that have at least Euro 4-compliant engines as part of efforts to lessen air pollution.
Drivers and PUV operators, meanwhile, are complaining about the costs of replacing their vehicles, which could reach as much as P2 million.
Teofilo Guadiz III, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairperson, had reached out to PISTON national president Mody Floranda to devise a compromise for the commuters’ sake.
He also warned jeepney operators to have their franchises revoked if they join the strike. (Watchmen Daily Journal)
