Transport groups kick off two-day nationwide strike vs rising fuel prices

A coalition of transport groups started their two-day nationwide strike on Thursday to protest rising fuel prices due to tensions in the Middle East.

Transport workers from various sectors including jeepneys, transport network vehicle services (TNVS), motorcycle taxis, buses, and UV Express joined the mass action.

“Ramdam na ramdam ng mga drayber at ng kanilang mga pamilya ang krisis sa kanilang kumakalam na sikmura, at ramdam din ito ng bawat komyuter na wala nang masakyan sa kalsadang nagsisilagasan na ang mga pumapasadang tsuper,” PISTON said.

(Drivers and their families are feeling the crisis in their growling stomachs, and every commuter is also feeling it because no public transport vehicles are available.)

In Metro Manila, one of the main protest gatherings of the No To Oil Price Hike Coalition was along Aurora Boulevard in Cubao, Quezon City, where a program began at 6:00 a.m.

More strike centers across the National Capital Region and other regions were also set.

The group called for the removal of value-added tax (VAT) and excise taxes on petroleum products, rollback of fuel prices to P55 per liter, and scrapping of the Oil Deregulation Law.

They also demanded fare increases across all transport modes, P1,200 family living wage, and the nationalization of the oil industry to allow the government to directly procure and sell fuel at lower costs.

According to the group, wars should be stopped to end the rising fuel prices.

Due to the transport strike, different government agencies prepared free rides for affected commuters.

Buses were deployed from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. through a coordinated effort of the Office of the President, the Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Philippine National Police.

Among the routes covered by the free rides program are Philcoa-Cubao, Welcome Rotonda-Cubao, Lawton-Welcome Rotonda, Lawton-PITX, Nagtahan-Cubao, and Commonwealth-Fairview. —VAL, GMA Integrated News