Three transportation groups in Bacolod City called off their strike Monday morning, May 8, after it was explained to them that it was not the city government that was preventing the granting of provisional authorities for them to operate their traditional jeepneys.
They will instead bring their protest to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) regional office in Iloilo on May 11, Noli Rosales, Kilusang Mayo Uno secretary general and a member of the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (UNDOC), said.
The Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators and Drivers, Negros Bacolod Transport Coalition and UNDOC members gathered in front of the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) for about three hours Monday morning but dispersed after a dialog with Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairman of the Bacolod Sangguniang Committee on Transportation.
Rosales said they are thankful that Espino clarified that the Bacolod City government had nothing to do with preventing the granting of their provisional authorities.
The LTFRB 6 had claimed that it was the city government that was preventing the release of the provisional authorities, Rosales said.
Espino said he will contact the LTFRB to clarify the matter.
The protest was misdirected at the city government, when the agency authorized to act on their provisional authorities is the LTFRB, Espino said.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Alfredo Benitez said he called Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista Monday morning to inform him that the city government’s original arrangement with the LTFRB Region 6 to give provisional authorities to the traditional jeepneys to operate was derailed with the change of its Chief Transport Development Officer and “now we’re back to square one”.
Bautista said he will raise the matter with LTFRB, Benitez added.
“We are expecting that our agreement on how to proceed should be respected,” the mayor said.
What was agreed on is that the city would endorse the applications for provisional authorities to fill in the gap caused by the lack of modernized jeepneys in Bacolod and the LTFRB would grant them, he said.
There are not enough modernized jeepneys in Bacolod so we really need traditional jeepneys to continue operating for now, the mayor said.
Only about 50 percent out of the 1,099 modernized jeepneys allowed for Bacolod are now operating in the city, Benitez said.
The 1,099 may not be enough so the number is being reviewed, he also said.
The opening up of new routes is also being considered, he said.
He said the LTFRB has set December 31 as the deadline for the full implementation of the modernized jeepney program but he is not sure is that is sufficient time.
Benitez said the traditional jeepneys will have to be phased out but it won’t happen overnight.
“Once proven to be more efficient and commercially viable for the operators to use electric jeeps, I prefer that all of our public transport will be electric vehicles,“ Benitez said.
At the end of the day they want to make sure public transportation is safe and comfortable for the riding public, he added.
Espino said there were less than 100 protestors in front of the BCGC on Monday. They were a small sector of Bacolod’s public transportation that is why the riding public was not affected by their strike, Espino said.
There was no paralysis of public transportation, Espino stressed.*