Transport group Manibela to launch transport strike Monday
MANILA — Transport group Manibela on Friday said they will launch an "indefinite" transport strike on Monday, October 16, unless their plea for the suspension of the implementation of the jeepney modernization program and the extension of the validity of their franchises are met.
The group said jeepney drivers plying 600 of the 785 routes in Metro Manila will join the transport strike Monday while around 1,000 vehicles will convene at the University of the Philippines in Diliman and at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board office along East Avenue, both in Quezon City, before heading to Mendiola, Manila to call on President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to suspend the implementation of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program .
This will entail forming a juridical entity, registering with the Office of the Transportation Cooperatives or the Securities and Exchange Commission and applying for a franchise consolidation so that they can be issued a provisional authority. Meanwhile, the group is maintaining its position condemning the alleged corruption in the LTFRB, despite the retraction of Jeff Tumbado, the former executive assistant of suspended LTFRB chair Teofilo Guadiz III.
Valbuena said other individuals have approached him separately to complain about corruption in the LTFRB and they corroborated Tumbado’s earlier statement. They are expected to file their complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman soon.“Yung idinadawit po mula dun sa regional directors hanggang doon po sa chairman ng LTFRB, hanggang DOTr, hanggang Malacañang nga po ito.