Vice President Sara Duterte lauded on Monday, Nov. 20, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for its effective response in responding to the transport strike that was carried out by transport group PISTON.
MMDA chairman Don Artes briefs Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on the status of Metro Manila roads on the first day of the transport strike on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (photo: MMDA)
Duterte went to the MMDA Communications and Command Center on Monday to personally check the status of the commuters and the effects of the transport strike on its first day.
“We are ready to support the MMDA in their transport strike response. We are also appealing to the group staging the protest to have a dialogue with the government and bring their concerns to the negotiation table,” said Duterte.
The Office of the Vice President has deployed several buses to assist the stranded commuters. Those buses are part of the 686 vehicles prepositioned by the MMDA in various parts of Metro Manila.
As of 2 p.m.. has dispatched 74 vehicles which served 1,815 commuters.
MMDA chairman Don Artes, in a press briefing, said the transport strike by Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) failed to paralyze public transport in Metro Manila during the Monday morning rush hours.
MMDA chairman Don Artes briefs Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on the status of Metro Manila roads on the first day of the transport strike on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (photo: MMDA)
“We can categorically say that the public transportation was not paralyzed based on our monitoring. We can also say that maybe what happened in some areas was part of the morning rush hour traffic,” said Artes.
“We think that it might be just normal Monday morning rush hour foot traffic,” he added.
While he downplayed the impact of the first day of the transport strike, Artes said that the MMDA and other concerned agencies will continue to monitor the situation until the last day of the strike.
“We are ready for the three-day strike and we will respond depending on the situation,” he said.
Artes also said the agency will assess the volume of traffic prior to the decision on whether the number coding scheme will be suspended again tomorrow, November 21.