PISTON members hold noise barrage to protest jeepney phaseout

Members of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) on Monday staged noise barrages to protest the jeepney modernization program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

The group staged the protest action in Cubao, Monumento, Manila, Alabang, and Welcome Rotonda.

Bernadette Reyes, in a report on Balitanghali, quoted PISTON national president George San Mateo as saying the modernization program has become a business, with the transportation sector being given away to big corporations.

Mateo said that under the modernization program, the units the DOTr is proposing as replacement for old jeepneys are too pricey.

PISTON is instead urging the government to allow jeepney operators to rehabilitate their units, not phase them out.

If DOTr were to implement the program, around 600,000 jeepney drivers and 300,000 small operators will lose their livelihood.

Commuters will also have to pay higher fares.

GMA News is still trying to get DOTr's reaction to PISTON's counter proposal as of posting time. —KG/KVD, GMA News