MANIBELA, PISTON rally against PUVMP at Batasang Pambansa

Transport groups PISTON and MANIBELA held a rally outside the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City on Tuesday to coincide with a congressional hearing on the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).

According to a Balitanghali report by Oscar Oida, the groups assembled outside the south gate along the IBP Road at around 8 a.m.

Operators and drivers demanded the House Committee on Transportation to stop the alleged phaseout of traditional jeepneys and for the government to allow unconsolidated PUVs to continue to ply their routes.

The protest action occupied two lanes of the thoroughfare, resulting in a slight delay for traffic bound to Commonwealth Avenue from San Mateo and the Batasan Road.

Personnel from the Quezon CIty Police District were deployed to monitor the protest.—Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News