MANILA — Transport group Manibela will conduct a nationwide transport strike starting Monday, Oct. 16, to urge the government to take action on the alleged corruption within the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).Manibela chairman Mar Valbuena, in a press conference on Monday, said about 240,000 traditional jeepneys are expected to join the strike.
The duration of the strike, or until when it will last, is yet to be advised, he said.
“Transport strikes will happen in the next few weeks. Next Monday, we will have a bigger [strike], even at the regional offices of the LTFRB. We will bring it together, all our vehicles…jeepneys, especially here in NCR, we will pile them in front of Malacañang,” said Valbuena.
In the same meeting, LTFRB chairman Teofilo Guadiz III’s former assistant, Jeffrey Tumbado, exposed the alleged corrupt practices within the board.
While he did not discuss in-depth details of his accusations, Tumbado said that it involves not just the LTFRB but also other agencies, including Malacañang.
Aside from the alleged corruption, Valbuena stressed that the scheduled strike also aims to convince the government to solve the “injustices” faced by public utility vehicle drivers on the road.
He likewise called for an extension of the deadline for the traditional jeepney franchise, which is set to end on December 31.
“Our franchise that you are cutting, which only earns money every time we renew, the fear that you give to our colleagues, in our sector that every day you torture the drivers with the wrong catches, in wrong implementations of the wrong memorandum circulars that you give every day, we are suffering on the road,” said Valbuena. (Luisa Cabato © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
