ILOILO City – Transport groups in the city and province of Iloilo are not joining the weeklong strike of transport groups in Metro Manila against the impending phaseout of traditional jeepneys.
Holding a strike would violate the regulations of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and the Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC), said Raymundo Parcon, president of the Western Visayas Transport Cooperative (WVTC) which is registered under these two government agencies.
“Sa part sang WVTC, waay kami sang hublag-protesta nga hiwaton kay naka-register na kita sa CDA and OTC,” Parcon told Panay News yesterday.
Beginning March 6 transport groups in Metro Manila are staging a weeklong strike.
Mar Valbuena, national president of transport group Manibela, said the strike would involve an estimated 40,000 traditional jeepneys and UV express units and would “ensure employees won’t be able to come to work.”
WVTC registered with the CDA and OTC to be recognized as a cooperative and consolidate for a jeepney franchise in line with the national government’s public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program.
Parcon said there are other means to express objection to the looming phaseout of traditional jeepneys such as by holding dialogues with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
A strike would be disadvantageous to both drivers and commuters, he added.
Parcon also made it clear that WVTC supports the PUV modernization program.
However, they are among the many affected in the transportation sector who requested an extension of the franchises of traditional jeepneys until December 2023.
This would give operators ample time to join or create transport cooperatives.
The Iloilo City Alliance of Operators and Drivers Transport Cooperative (ICAODTC) is also not joining the strike, according to its board secretary Rizalito Alido.
Alido, in an interview with Aksyon Radyo Iloilo, said the PUV modernization program began way back in 2017 and has been postponed several times already.
He added many transport cooperatives in Western Visayas had complied.
A seven-page Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2023-013 issued on Feb. 20 by LTFRB secretary Teofilo Guadiz III gave individual traditional jeepney franchises three more months of extension from the original deadline of March.
“Individual operators may continue to operate under a provisional authority (PA), which is automatically extended until June 30, 2023,” read part of the memorandum.
After June 30, “only those individual operators who were able to join an existing consolidated entity on or before June 30, 2023, shall be allowed to have their PA extended until December 31, 2023.”
It added: “The consolidated entity where the individual operator joined shall file an amended application for franchise consolidation until June 30, 2023, to include the new member with a prayer for the issuance of a PA with the Technical Division or Receiving Section of the Regional Franchising and Regulatory Board.”
The Certificate of Public Conveyance (CPC) of the individual operators who fail to join the existing consolidated entity after June 30, 2023 shall be reverted to the State.
In a statement, the LTFRB also clarified that cooperatives and corporations must be accredited by the OTC or seek registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Aug. 31 of this year.
It added new transportation cooperatives and corporations must apply franchise consolidation by Oct. 31 of this year for their provisional authority to be extended.
To recall, based on a memorandum in 2022, all traditional jeepney franchises, either with provisional authority or special permits, will expire on March 31, 2023.
DRIVERS TO FOLLOW COOPS’ DECISION
On their part, traditional jeepney drivers have no option on whether to go on strike or not.
Jaro-Liko NFA route president Stanley Larios of Tigbauan, Iloilo said the WVTC president could decide on their behalf.
“Mabal-an lang na sa babaw kay nagahulat man kami sang ila desisyon,” said Larios, a jeepney driver for more than 20 years.
Either way, he said he is strongly against the phaseout, adding that many of his fellow drivers are still unable to join cooperatives, worrying about what to do for a living next.
“Indi man tani eh kay kanugon sang salakyan kay okay pa man. Ti, waay ta mahimu kon ma-phaseout, pero gusto namon tani wala sang phaseout,” he added.
Larios is also worried about what to do with his jeepney unit but is eyeing it for private use instead.
Meanwhile, Blas Oquindo, a driver of a Jaro Liko-NFA jeepney, said he would go on a transport strike if his cooperative, the Metro Iloilo Transport Service Cooperative, through chairperson Joemarie Delos Reyes, decides to join.
Oquindo said the limited number of modernized jeepneys would cause many of them to have no units to drive on.
And if ever he could drive one, his income would be limited as they are paid every 15th and 30th of the month, compared to a daily income with the traditional jeepney.
“Mabudlay man ‘ya sa mga pigado nga kasubong namon kay ti wala income kon wala kami sang unit nga i-maneho,” he said.
Albertito Dilag of Dumangas, Iloilo, also a driver for the Jaro Liko-NFA route, said he is willing to take part in the transport strike as a go signal for his cooperative.
“Dapat tani indi pag-phaseout ang dyep, madugang lang ang units, kaso lang wala ta mahimu sa gobyerno,” said Dilag, a driver of more than 30 years.
Driver Reynaldo Acosta of Jaro-Tagbak jeepney is skeptical the national government would heed their call for an extension through a transport strike.
As such, he could only helplessly say, “Pigado run daan, pigaduhon pa gid. Ang mga pigado ‘ni ang maapektohan sang phaseout.”/PN
