MANILA, Philippines — Transport group Manibela announced that it is set to stage another transport strike next week to protest the president’s support for the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.
Manibela chairperson Mar Valbuena said that the group would stage the srike from August 14 to 16 after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed his support for the advancement of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.
“We will organize protests or, if not, transport strikes starting next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of the coming week,” Valbuena said in Filipino at a press conference on Thursday.
“We are not making threats. Next Wednesday, if there is no clear directive from Malacañang, the DOTr (Department of Transportation) or the LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) on how to address the remaining minority, we will go on strike.,” he added.
On Wednesday, Marcos said that the government will push through with the implementation of the program despite the calls of the Senate to halt its implementation until all the concerns of jeepney drivers and operators are addressed.
Marcos said that the majority of the public vehicles have already been consolidated.
“So, how can the 20% decide the fate of the 100%?” Marcos said in Filipino.
In response, Valbuena said that the president should also look at the conditions of the minority.
“Malacañang, hopefully, has a fair perspective on the minority, not just on the majority of public transport operators or commuters, but on the entire nation, on the whole of the Philippines,” Valbuena said in Filipino.
“Dapat hindi po tayo namimili ng kakampihan, dapat gumitna po tayo mahal na pangulo,” he added.
(We should not choose sides; we should remain neutral.)
Manibela is one of the transport groups assailing the constitutionality of the modernization program before the Supreme Court.
Along with another transport group, PISTON, Manibela has been filing petitions questioning the memorandum circulars issued by the DOTr and LTFRB in implementing the modernization program since December 2023.
However, despite the continued pleas filed by the transport groups, the high court did not issue any order to halt the program’s implementation.
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