Iloilo transport groups stage strike over fuel costs

By Juliane Judilla

Transport organizations and commuter groups staged a coordinated “Transport and People’s Strike” on April 21 across eight strike centers in Iloilo province to protest rising fuel prices and demand urgent government intervention.

In Iloilo City, strike centers were set up at Tagbak Terminal, Ungka ITGSI Terminal, the UPV Infante flyover, in front of Mandurriao Elementary School, and at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol.

Three other strike centers were also established in the towns of San Miguel, Miagao and Oton, where public transport units joined the protest.

The action was led by the No to Oil Price Hike Coalition and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Panay.

Drivers, operators and commuters gathered to press for the repeal of the Oil Deregulation Law, which they said has left fuel prices vulnerable to repeated increases without sufficient government control.

For 56-year-old Roberto “Jun” Grajo, a jeepney driver for 32 years on the Villa-Baybay route, the surge in oil prices has cut into his daily earnings and added to the burden on his family.

“Ga gwanta nlng kmi sa gina kita nmon mga 200, kis a 100, kung kaisa gani wala,” Grajo told Daily Guardian.

(We just make do with what we earn — around PHP 200, sometimes PHP 100, and at times even nothing.)

“Pigado na gid [pangabuhi] subong. Pagsaka sang krudo mas nag pigado pa gid kami nga wala na inugbakal pagkaon sa sulod balay kay igu lang i-tughong [gasolina],” he added.

(Life is already very difficult now. With the increase in fuel prices, we’ve become even poorer. We can hardly afford to buy food for the household because our income only goes to fuel.)

The groups also urged the government to scrap the 12% value-added tax and excise taxes imposed on petroleum products.

They called for an immediate rollback in gasoline prices and stressed the need for a long-term solution to the recurring burden of fuel hikes on transport workers and commuters.

Meanwhile, in Crossing Banga, New Washington, Aklan, allied progressive and transport groups set up a solidarity strike center, signaling that the protest was gaining traction beyond Iloilo.

Organizers said the coordinated strike reflected growing frustration among transport workers and ordinary commuters as fuel price movements continued to strain household and operating budgets.

They vowed to sustain collective actions until concrete measures are implemented.

The protest came as oil firms implemented a rollback on April 21, including a PHP 3.41-per-liter cut in gasoline prices and a much bigger PHP 24.94-per-liter rollback for diesel, showing how volatile local pump prices have become.

The protesters’ call to repeal the Oil Deregulation Law refers to Republic Act 8479, the 1998 law that deregulated the downstream oil industry.

Their demand to remove taxes on fuel also points to excise taxes imposed under the TRAIN law, Republic Act 10963, which raised petroleum excise rates in phases.

Fuel pricing has remained a national issue in recent weeks, with transport groups elsewhere in the country also pressing for the removal of fuel VAT, while the government earlier suspended taxes on kerosene and LPG to ease the impact of the energy shock.