ILOILO City – It was business as usual in this city on Monday.
“We did not feel there was a strike,” said Raymundo Parcon, president of the Western Visayas Transport Cooperative, when asked about his assessment of the transport caravan conducted by unconsolidated jeepney operators and drivers protesting the April 30 deadline for their consolidation into cooperatives or corporations as part of the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.
Consolidated PUVs – minibuses and traditional jeepneys – serviced their routes normally, said Parcon.
The protesting unconsolidated operators and drivers merely held a caravan, unlike their counterparts in Metro Manila and other parts of the country who stayed off the streets as a form of protest.
According to Parcon, however, there were unconsolidated jeepneys that did not join the caravan and instead plied their routes.
Thus, he said, the protest caravan had “no effect”.
For its part, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) described the number of protest caravan participants as “minimal”.
Brigadier General Jack Wanky said the flow of public conveyance was “normal”.
Even then, he said, the PRO-6 made available its police patrol cars and trucks just in case commuters needed a ride.
The protest caravan was organized by the “No to PUV Phaseout Coalition”.
Elmer Forro, a leading organizer of the coalition, said the April 30 compulsory consolidation deadline harms not just drivers and commuters, but the community as a whole.
He noted that compulsory consolidation signals the start of phasing out traditional jeepneys, which are a primary source of income for individual operators and drivers.
Forro also expressed concerns that if the transport modernization program proceeds, it would not only impact drivers and operators but would also lead to increased fares for passengers who will have to switch to minibuses.
He criticized the government’s handling of the program, particularly the failures of cooperatives and corporations involved. Many drivers and operators who initially consolidated their franchises have left their cooperatives or corporations due to unmet promises, such as a promised daily dividend of P500, he claimed./PN
