LTFRB: No stranded passengers amid transport strike

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III on Monday said no one got stranded in the transport strike staged by PISTON and MANIBELA. 

At a Palace press briefing, Guadiz said only a few jeepney drivers and operators joined the nationwide transport protest. 

''Ikinagagalak ko hong masabi sa inyo na wala pa pong stranded na pasahero (I am glad to tell you that there were no stranded passengers due to the transport strike),'' Guadiz said.

Earlier reports said some passengers were stranded this morning following the nationwide transport strike. In a series of Facebook posts, MANIBELA shared photos of stranded passengers in Novaliches, Las Piñas, Caloocan, Pasig, and Cavite.

Guadiz said the photos only showed the ''regular traffic'' situation on a Monday.

PISTON president Mody Floranda said that around 6:21 a.m., the protesters started to gather in different areas in the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby provinces.

Last week, transport groups PISTON and MANIBELA announced that they would hold another transport strike from September 23 to 24.

The transport strike aims to call for the renewal of franchises and registrations for all PUV operators, including those who choose not to consolidate, as well as to allow those who have entered franchise consolidation to withdraw.

To recall, the PTMP, previously called Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), started in 2017 to replace jeepneys with vehicles that have at least a Euro 4-compliant engine to lessen pollution.

It seeks to replace units that are no longer considered roadworthy. A modern jeepney unit, however, costs over P2 million, an amount that even state-run banks LandBank and Development Bank of the Philippines said was too expensive for PUV drivers and operators. —AOL, GMA Integrated News