Manibela begins 3-day transport strike

Transport group Manibela on Monday started its three-day protest, calling on the government and transport authorities to give unconsolidated jeepney drivers and operators one more year provisional authority following the April 30 deadline for consolidation. 

Manibela chairperson Mar Valbuena said that they also want to come up with a jeepney prototype with local manufacturers that would meet the government's standard. 

He also urged the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to approve the earlier prototype they have made. 

“‘Yung isang taong extension ay para maka-biyahe pa rin ang ating mga kasamahan dahil alam natin na walang ibang hanapbuhay na mabibigay ang ating gobyerno dahil nga ang mga jobless ngayon, hindi nila mabigyan ng trabaho,” Valbuena said in an Unang Balita interview.

(We’re asking for a one-year extension so that our members can still continue their livelihood because we know that there is no other job that our government can provide them. They can’t even give a job to those who are jobless now.) 

“[Gusto] natin mapatunayan sa loob ng isang taon na tayo talaga ay gusto natin ng modernization,” he added. 

(We want to prove in a year that we are not against modernization.) 

Valbuena appealed to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to listen to their call and not to believe hearsays that they are against the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP). 

The transport strike is scheduled from June 10 to 12, 2024. Manibela earlier said they anticipate around 25,000 members to join their three-day protest. 

The transport group is expected to begin its activities along East Avenue corner NIA Road in Diliman, Quezon City, based on an Unang Balita report of Ivan Mayrina. 

At 5:30 a.m., GMA Integrated News monitored the situation from Commonwealth Avenue to East Avenue and there was no unusual line of commuters seen despite the transport strike. 

Several jeepneys were also still seen plying their routes early Monday morning. 

The consolidation of PUVs is part of the initial stage of the government's PUVMP, under which jeepney operators and drivers should consolidate into cooperatives or have their permits revoked.

Started in 2017, the PUVMP aims to replace jeepneys with vehicles that have at least a Euro 4-compliant engine to lessen pollution. —KBK, GMA Integrated News