Two transport groups shun strike

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Councilor Dindo Ramos said the Sentrong Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Negros (SSTONE) and the Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association (FEBACDA) will not join the five-day transport strike set by end-March 2022.

Ramos said he met with the two transport sectors and both groups announced their intentions not to join the strike against successive oil price hikes, among other issues.

Ramos, the chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Traffic of the Bacolod City council, said he convinced both groups by reminding them that their drivers and operators will be the ones to suffer should they decide to suspend their transport operations in the city.

Ramos also sent a message to United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (UNDOC) Secretary-general Diego Malacad telling him to reconsider their decision as their move will only adversely affect their driver-members.

The councilor also advised Malacad to forward his concerns to local congressmen in order to create a resolution which would temporarily suspend the modernization program for Public Utility Vehicles (PUVs), one of the issues being protested by UNDOC.

Ramos is assuring Malacad that he will forward a resolution before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to allow a one-year probationary authority for traditional jeepneys to continue operations.

UNDOC has two demands to the national government so it won’t push through with the strike – defer the full implementation of the 12-percent value added tax on fuel and suspension of the excise tax also on fuel.