There will be no transportation strike in Bacolod City on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
Rudy Catedral, president of the Bacolod Alliance for Commuters Operators and Drivers, said Monday, December 11, that they are calling off their planned strike on Wednesday until they get word from their national counterpart, Manibela.
They are waiting for information from Manibela president Mar Valbuena on whether a strike will be held on another day, Catedral said.
They are calling for the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to scrap its December 31 consolidation deadline under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
The PUVMP guidelines state that individual jeepney operators who fail to start consolidating into cooperatives or corporations by year-end will lose their right to operate.
Diego Malacad, secretary general of the United Negros Driver and Operators Center (UNDOC), said his group is not staging a strike as he just met with LTFRB regional director Richard Osmeña and was informed that a new memorandum circular will be released that will address their concern.
He does not expect the deadline to be imposed Dec. 31, there will be an extension, Malacad said.
UNDOC is not joining its national counterpart Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (PISTON) that is calling for a transport strike on Dec. 14 and 15, he said.
The Sentrong Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators (SSTONE), Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association (FEBACDA) and the Negros Bacolod Transport Coalition are also not staging strikes on Wednesday, he said.
SSTONE Secretary General Eduardo “Jun” Asis said they are not joining the strike because they are confident that Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez will assist them in resolving their concerns.
They are eyeing shifting towards the use of E-jeeps because their maintenance cost is almost 60 percent less than regular jeeps, Asis said.
Benitez said Bacolod City has more than 600 modernized jeep and 3,100 traditional jeeps.
“We are pushing for the transition to electric jeepneys,” the mayor said.
The operators of traditional jeepneys tested the E-jeeps to determine if they would earn more with such vehicles and so far their reactions were positive, he said.
They will have bigger savings with the shift from fuel to electricity, Benitez said.
In fact some want to order E-jeeps already, he said.
The creation of a cooperatives for jeepney operators initiated by the city government is under process, Benitez said.
There is a study underway to determine how many public utility vehicles are needed for every route in Bacolod that is expected to be completed in two weeks, Benitez also said.*