Manibela President Mar Valbuena (Photo courtesy of Manibela Facebook)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Transport group Manibela said it will push through with its strike on Monday to protest the government鈥檚 alleged falsification of data for the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP).
Manibela president Mar Valbuena said their group agreed to stage the protest during the weekend in anticipation of a dialogue with officials of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
The strike was set for Monday until Wednesday, but Valbuena said they began the strike on Friday because of the dialogue.
READ: Manibela begins nationwide transport strike on March 21
He said the office of Transportation Assistant Secretary for road transport and noninfrastructure Dioscoro Reyes kept on changing the schedule for the meeting.
Even after two days, however, the government officials could not set a definite schedule.
鈥淲e began the strike today because they kept on changing the schedule of the dialogue since Tuesday,鈥� Valbuena said in Filipino.
But despite these schedule changes, Valbuena stressed DOTr and LTFRB officials failed to meet them for a dialogue.
As a result, the transport group leader said they will continue the nationwide strike on Monday.
Valbuena said in a press briefing in Quezon City on Thursday that they would push for the resignation of LTFRB Chair Teofilo Guadiz III for claiming that 86 percent of the country鈥檚 passenger vehicles have already consolidated to form cooperatives or corporations in accordance with the PTMP.
鈥楨veryone scammed鈥�
鈥淎lmost everyone who joined the consolidation and cooperatives were fooled, denied and scammed. They are with us today,鈥� he said.
Guadiz said in December that 86 percent of all public utility vehicles (PUVs) have already joined the program.
It added 164,137 consolidated units out of 191,730 PUVs became part of transport cooperatives or corporations.
Under the PTMP, jeepney drivers and operators must group themselves together to form cooperatives to avail the program鈥檚 benefits.
But Valbuena said Guadiz鈥檚 claim was a 鈥渃omplete lie鈥� because Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon admitted that the 86 percent, included drivers and operators鈥� groups whose consolidation applications have yet to be approved, Valbuena added.
鈥淚t鈥檚 because of their false data that we are suffering today, not just drivers and operators, but more so our commuters,鈥� Valbuena said.
He said Manibela members who refused to consolidate were being 鈥渢reated like criminals.鈥�
Consolidation is part of the process of phasing out traditional jeepneys and replacing them with eco-friendly but more expensive units.