Traditional jeepneys stopped plying the streets of Bacolod City on Wednesday, August 14, as part of a two-day strike geared towards convincing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to scrap the public transport modernization program.
“Our protest has been very successful, 80 to 85 percent of traditional jeepneys have joined our protest,” Rudy Catedral, president of the Bacolod Alliance for Commuters, Operators, and Drivers (BACOD), said.
He said they were joined by members of the Kabacod Negros Transport Coalition and the United Negros Drivers and Operators Center.
They will continue their protest until Thursday if the city officials fail to address their demands, said Catedral, who along with the other protestors gathered in front of the Bacolod City Government Center on Wednesday.
Public transportation in Bacolod was not paralyzed by the strike since modern jeepneys, other traditional jeepneys and taxis continued to ply the city streets.
Members of the Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association and Sentrong Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Negros are not joining the strike, Eduardo “Junjun” Asis, SSTONE secretary general, said.
He said their traditional jeepneys were still operating but some decided to stop because they were being intimidated by the protestors.
Col. Joeresty Coronica, Bacolod police director, said those intimidated and stopped from operating can lodge reports with the police.
City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting said they were providing vehicles for stranded passengers but so far there were few who needed assistance since other public utility vehicles were still operating.*