Transport group MANIBELA will be conducting a nationwide transportation strike on Tuesday, January 16, in protest against the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).
According to RH 5 Val Gonzales’ report during Rapido Hataw Balita, MANIBELA chairperson Mar Valbuena announced in a joint forum in Quezon City that the strike will begin in the University of the Philippines Diliman and end in Mendiola in Manila.
An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 jeepney drivers in the National Capital Region are expected to join MANIBELA.
Progressive groups including Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or Bayan as well as student councils from CALABARZON and Central Luzon are also participating in the protest.
Valbuena reportedly stressed that jeepneys’ provisional authority to operate should be extended.
The deadline for jeepney franchise consolidation under the PUVP ended last December 31, 2023. Nonetheless, the Department of Transportation allowed non-consolidated jeepneys to ply routes until January 31.
But those jeepney operators who will still not comply with the consolidation requirement will be tagged as "colorum" beginning in February as announced earlier by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.
The Supreme Court has yet to issue a decision on the petition filed by PISTON which seeks a temporary restraining order against the PUVMP.
