{"id":124636,"date":"2017-10-18T03:42:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T07:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=124636"},"modified":"2017-10-18T03:42:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T07:42:03","slug":"rody-upset-over-success-of-transport-strike-piston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/10\/18\/rody-upset-over-success-of-transport-strike-piston\/","title":{"rendered":"Rody upset over ‘success’ of transport strike\u2014PISTON"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"TRANSPORT<\/a>
TRANSPORT STRIKE DAY 2. Several members of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) hold a protest rally at Anda Circle, Bonifacio Drive in Port Area Manila on Tuesday (October 17, 2017). The nationwide transport strike, led by PISTON, to oppose the government’s public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program, entered its second day Tuesday. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Rodrigo Duterte was disappointed over the \u2018success\u2019 of the two-day nationwide transport strike, the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) said, citing that the president himself had allowed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBakit nagagalit ang presidente at gusto nya ibenta natin sa<\/em> junk shop ang ating<\/em> jeep bago matapos ang taon<\/em>? [Why is the president angry and wants to junk our jeepneys before the year ends?]\u201d PISTON said in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n

\u201cSinabi ito ng pangulo bumubula ang bibig sa galit dahil sa matagumpay na<\/em> 2 days transport strike? Eh di ba sya ang nagsabi na mag<\/em> strike muna ang<\/em> Piston kahit<\/em> 2 months na<\/em> strike bibigyan pa niya daw tayo ng<\/em> permit [The president said it angrily because of the success of the two-day transport strike. Remember he himself told us to hold strike even just for two months and he will even give us permit],\u201d the group added.<\/p>\n

Around 60 transport leaders in Metro Manila, and some in other parts of the country, held a transport strike on October 16 to 17, to appeal the junking of Duterte\u2019s plan to phase out jeepneys through the \u2018jeepney modernization program.\u2019<\/p>\n

Earlier,\u00a0Duterte\u00a0called on drivers and operators to upgrade their jeepneys by the end of the year or face arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cKaya<\/em> [that\u2019s why] I\u2019ll give you until the end of the month or until the end of the year. Sumunod kayo<\/em> because January 1 pag may makita ako diyan mga<\/em> jeep ninyo na walang rehistro<\/em>, hindi narehistro<\/em>, luma<\/em>, guguyurin ko yan sa harap ninyo<\/em> [Abide because by January 1, if I see old, unregistered jeepneys, I will tow it in front of you],\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAarestuhin ko talaga kayo.<\/em> Believe me,\u201d Duterte added.<\/p>\n

[Read: Duterte warns \u2018rebellious\u2019 PUV drivers, operators of arrest<\/a>]<\/p>\n

However, the transport group hit back: \u201cTapos tsaka sya makikipag usap sa atin sa problema natin sa<\/em> phase out. Eh bakit ngayon galit sya at minumura tayong mga<\/em> driver at maliliit na<\/em> operator dahil sa<\/em> strike natin<\/em> 2 days strike pa nga lang yun\u00a0<\/em>[Now he wants to deliberate with us about our problem over the phase out. Now he’s angry and cursing us drivers and small operators because of our strike].\u201d<\/p>\n

Duterte also pointed to United Nations statistics that lung cancer cases in the Philippines would triple by 2025 due to the carbon dioxide emissions from old engines, saying public vehicles\u00a0produce a lot of fumes and carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Senator Grace Poe said that the two-day nationwide transport strike should serve as a wake-up call to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to hear the grievances of the jeepney drivers and operators.<\/p>\n

[Read: Jeepney drivers, operators should be heard \u2013Poe<\/a>]<\/p>\n

The senator also expressed her support for the modernization of the mass transport system; however, she said that the program should not result in the displacement of the jeepney drivers.<\/p>\n

Poe added that the plan should be implemented with \u201ctransparent consultations\u201d of stakeholders and all concerned parties as \u201cunilateral decisions will prove counter-productive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support the genuine modernization of our mass transport system, including our jeepney fleets. However, we stand firm that any program to be implemented must be the outcome of transparent consultations from a broad range of stakeholders and must be equitable to all parties concerned,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cModernization should not result in the displacement of jeepney drivers, who often belong to the country\u2019s poor,\u201d the senator added.<\/p>\n

PISTON\u00a0cautioned Duterte that they would stage monthly transport strikes if the president refuses to meet them for discusion on the public utility vehicle modernization program.<\/p>\n

PISTON national president George San Mateo said they would hold more strikes in the coming months to show their continuous opposition to the program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Rodrigo Duterte was disappointed over the \u2018success\u2019 of the two-day nationwide transport strike, the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":124641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[28309,13135,27911,12146],"class_list":["post-124636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-pinagkaisang-samahan-ng-mga-tsuper-at-operator-nationwide-piston","tag-president-rodrigo-duterte","tag-public-utility-vehicle-modernization-program","tag-senator-grace-poe","mauthors-carlo-jacob-molina","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}