Transport strike fizzles in Metro Manila – INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

But protests vs oil spikes cripple Angeles, Davao
By Inquirer Bureaus
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Source: Inquirer.net
Filed Under: Road Transport, Strike, Protest, Oil & Gas – Downstream activities

MANILA, Philippines — The transport strike called by militant groups to protest high fuel prices was hardly felt in Metro Manila, but it stalled traffic in Angeles City in Pampanga province and major urban centers and provinces in Mindanao.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said Metro Manila was spared from any significant disruption in mass transport services as the United Organizations of Drivers and Operators Nationwide (Piston) limited their protest actions.

This came amid threats by the LTFRB that operators of jeepneys and other forms of mass transport would lose their licenses to operate if the protests against high fuel prices resulted in commuters losing their means to get around the metropolis.

Commuters in Metro Manila went about their daily routine despite the “transport caravan” organized by Piston.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the protest action did not paralyze transportation in the metropolis as other transport groups did not participate in the activity.

“But I think it was really not their purpose (to paralyze transport system),” MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino said.

“They might just want to ventilate their grievances,” he said.

Piston said there really was no intention to paralyze transportation in Metro Manila.

George San Mateo, Piston secretary general, said the next protest action would be bigger.

“This is just a dry run. If our demands are not addressed, we will call for a bigger action,” Mateo told the Philippine Daily Inquirer at the Welcome Rotunda in Quezon City.

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