ILOILO CITY – The nationwide transport strike on Monday, July 24, had minimal impact in this city and province of Iloilo.
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TWO jeepney drivers and operators join the transport strike on Monday, July 24, in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap) Traditional jeepneys and mini-buses continued to ply the streets amid the transport strike that coincided with the second State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. However, some commuters complained during rush hour in the morning as some operators and drivers of traditional jeepneys joined the strike calling for the non-phase out of this mode of transport. Workers and students waited in line in transportation terminals where provincial jeepneys can only pick up and drop off passengers bound here. Strikers appealed to the government to review the modern transport system being implemented. According to them, this is disadvantageous to drivers and commuters. One of them is Remegio Appelido who joined the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) last year when the Iloilo City government became the first local government unit (LGU) in the country to implement the program. “But I left the cooperative because I later understood it is not right,” Appelido said. The 42-year-old who drives and owns an old passenger jeepney said that he is not against modernizing the transportation system but the government must make things fair and right. Apellido lamented the government policy that jeepneys he own must be transferred to the name of the transport cooperatives which have to borrow money to purchase one of the mini-buses required by the government under the new scheme. He said that the loan availed of by transport cooperatives for the mini-buses are being passed down to commuters.
TWO jeepney drivers and operators join the transport strike on Monday, July 24, in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap) Traditional jeepneys and mini-buses continued to ply the streets amid the transport strike that coincided with the second State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. However, some commuters complained during rush hour in the morning as some operators and drivers of traditional jeepneys joined the strike calling for the non-phase out of this mode of transport. Workers and students waited in line in transportation terminals where provincial jeepneys can only pick up and drop off passengers bound here. Strikers appealed to the government to review the modern transport system being implemented. According to them, this is disadvantageous to drivers and commuters. One of them is Remegio Appelido who joined the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) last year when the Iloilo City government became the first local government unit (LGU) in the country to implement the program. “But I left the cooperative because I later understood it is not right,” Appelido said. The 42-year-old who drives and owns an old passenger jeepney said that he is not against modernizing the transportation system but the government must make things fair and right. Apellido lamented the government policy that jeepneys he own must be transferred to the name of the transport cooperatives which have to borrow money to purchase one of the mini-buses required by the government under the new scheme. He said that the loan availed of by transport cooperatives for the mini-buses are being passed down to commuters.