From the transport groups’ gathering in Welcome Rotonda up to the area near UST and on to Morayta going to Mendiola Bridge (Chino Roces), the protesters were repeatedly confronted by policemen, Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Metro Manila Development Authority personnel.
“We welcome and appreciate the effort of Sen. Grace Poe. That’s what we want to hear from the government.”
The selling price of the new jeepneys the government wanted the operators to purchase ranged from P1.5 million to P1.6 million ($27,840 to $31.82). Under a seven-year loan package with interest, the final price would be more than P2 million each, making the government-vetted jeepney as costly as a sports utility vehicle.
By RENAN ORTIZ
By DEE AYROSO
When once Philippine jeepneys were iconic testaments to Filipino ingenuity, resourcefulness and folk art, the erstwhile “King of the Road” is now derided by government as a backward and inefficient mode of mass transport, polluting and unsafe, their drivers an undisciplined lot commonly viewed as perennial violators of traffic rules and regulations. Thus the need…
MANILA — Various jeepney routes in Metro Manila and major roads in the provinces nationwide were almost hundred percent clear of public utility jeepneys on October 16 and 17, during the two-day transport strike. Piston estimated the participation in the strike was 90 percent on average in targeted routes. The government said it was barely…
“Our proposal details steps for the modernization and nationalization of our mass transport system. But Duterte personally rejected our request and instead told us to hold a two-month strike first, and he would give us a permit.” – Piston
“What is not being explained fully to the public is the component of corporate takeover and imminent threat of fare hikes in the government’s so-called jeepney modernization program.”
“We plan the protests to be participated in not just by transport groups but by various sectors, too, because commuters stand to pay the higher costs of this fake jeepney modernization.”
Piston said most of the country’s jeepney drivers and operators are fine with upgrading and rehabilitating the jeepneys, but not in the total scrapping of it as advocated by the Transportation department.