By: Vanne Elaine P. Terrazola
Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Services, has urged transport groups to call off their planned nationwide strike tomorrow and Tuesday and called for a Senate probe on the government’s jeepney modernization program.
Poe has also asked the Pinagkaisahang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide and the No to Jeepney Phase Out Coalition to air their grievances on the program to the panel instead of holding a transport holiday.
“I am appealing to transport groups PISTON and the (No to) Jeepney Phaseout Coalition to reconsider and call off their planned strike and instead sit down with us in the committee so that the Senate can hear their concerns regarding the proposed jeepney modernization program of the government,” Poe said.
Poe said she will file a resolution tomorrow pushing for the “urgent” hearing to address issues of public utility vehicle drivers and operators against the program. She plans to hold a committee hearing on Thursday.
The senator noted that “certain issues” in the modernization program still need to be “carefully studied and threshed out” before the government starts its rollout.
Poe said she also hopes to hear alternative proposals from the protesting groups and other stakeholders.
“Their problems are not theirs alone, but that of the entire nation that depends on the kind of public transportation they offer. Let us sit down and talk, and find ways to move forward with solutions that are socially just and feasible,” she said.
The two-day strike is the fourth of Piston. Its most recent in October caused a suspension of government work and classes nationwide.
The No to Jeepney Phase Out Coalition, led by the Stop and Go Coalition, also staged their own transport strikes early this year but took a step back in April after a dialogue with government representatives.
The group apparently failed to reach a consensus and joined Piston in its October protest.
