Three transportation groups will gather in front of the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) at 6 a.m. Monday, May 8, to air their demands, and stage a transport strike.
PCol. Noel Aliño, acting Bacolod police director, said they expect the strike to be peaceful but have put security measures in place.
The Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators and Drivers, Negros Bacolod Transport Coalition, and the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center members with their jeepneys will gather at the BCGC where they will hold a program to air their demands after the city government’s flag ceremony, Noli Rosales, Kilusang Mayo Uno secretary general, said.
Rosales said they will stay in front of the BCGC until the afternoon if Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez does not face them.
They want to show the mayor how many drivers will lose their jobs with the jeepney modernization program, he said.
Their demands include the immediate implementation of Memorandum Order 2023-017, which allows all traditional routes to extend the provisional authority until Dec. 31, 2023, and the suspension and review for amendment of City Ordinance 966 for the protection of jeepney drivers, operators and commuters, the organizers said.
Their strike is not expected to paralyze public transportation in Bacolod City as the modern jeepneys, Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Associations and Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Negros are not joining.*