Transport group PISTON will hold a nationwide transport strike on Thursday. March 19 to protest the continuing spike in oil prices.

In a statement on Monday, March 16, Piston said the strike will be conducted alongside progressive alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), with protest actions expected to affect major roads in Metro Manila and several provincial areas.

Piston national president Mody Floranda said transport workers are carrying the burden of rising fuel costs as global tensions escalate following the US–Israel war on Iran.

“Sa bawat bombang hinuhulog ng US at Israel sa Middle East, kaming mga Pilipinong tsuper ang agad at direktang nagdurusa dito sa bansa(With every bomb dropped by the US and Israel in the Middle East, we Filipino drivers are the ones who immediately and directly suffer here in the country),” Floranda said.

The group said diesel prices have climbed sharply in recent days, reportedly nearing P90 per liter, further squeezing drivers’ already thin daily earnings.

Piston also criticized the country’s largest oil companies, accusing them of taking advantage of the situation to impose excessive price increases.

According to the group, the country’s deregulated oil industry allows companies to raise pump prices quickly, while drivers, commuters, and workers struggle with rising living costs.

Piston and Bayan are calling on the government to remove oil taxes and repeal the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998, which they said enables oil companies to set prices without sufficient regulation.

The group also appealed to commuters, students, and workers to support the planned strike and join calls for government intervention.

“Humihingi kami ng paumanhin sa mga maaabala ng aming tigil-pasada (We apologize to those who will be inconvenienced by our curfew),” Floranda said.

“Pero sigurado kaming mauunawaan tayo ng taumbayan dahil ramdam na ramdam sa buong bansa kung gaano ka-inutil ang pamahalaan sa gitna ng matinding krisis at malalang kagutuman (But we are sure that the people will understand us because the entire country can clearly feel how helpless the government is in the midst of a severe crisis and severe hunger),” he added.