The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Friday, Nov. 23 reported that the three-day strike has minimal effect on commuters due to the government contingency plan.
MMDA chairman Don Artes said their contingency measures started as early as last week and will last until the last day of the tranbsport strike on Friday, Nov. 24.
“Ang unang tatlong araw ng tigil pasada ay naging mapaya pero may ilang reports ng insidente ng harassment na agad namang inaddress ng ating kapulisan na hindi naman nauwi sa any violence (The first three days of the transportation strike were peaceful, but there were a few instances of harassment, which were quickly addressed by our police and did not result in any violence),” said Artes.
“Sa disruption naman, masasabi ko rin na minimal ang effect dahil agad na natutugunan ng inter-agency task force ang tigil pasada yung pangangailangan o kakulangan sa pampublikong transportasyon dahil sa strike na ginawa (Regarding the disruption, I can further state that its impact is minimal since the inter-agency task group met the strike-related need to cease using public transportation due to the strike),” he added.
Artes announced that 686 vehicles had been prepared to assist stranded passengers..
Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) conducted a three-day transportation strike to protest the government's proposal to modernize public utility vehicles.
“Napaghaandaan ito ng pamahalaan at maganda ang tugon para ma minimize ang epekto ng tigil pasada. Sa ngayon ay wala kaming nararamdaman na epekto nito (The government prepared well for this and responded quickly to minimize the impact of the strike. We haven't monitored any effects from it yet),” Artes noted. (Trixee Rosel)