CRIPPLED STRIKE
Warring transport groups fail to paralyze transportation

By Erly C. Garcia

Personal differences between the two warring factions of major transport groups Iloilo City Alliance of Drivers Association (Icada) and Federation of Iloilo Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (Fijoda) resulted to an unsuccessful transport strike in Iloilo City Monday.

The Icada group under the faction of secretary general Edgar Salarda did not heed the call for strike made by Rey Cachuela head of the other Icada faction.

Meanwhile, Piston-Panay headed by Jun Abellon also did not hold a strike, instead its member associations held a caravan in Iloilo City .

Ironically, the transport strike which also took place in Metro Manila, Central Luzon , Southern Tagalog, Bicol Region, Negros , Davao , among others, was spearheaded by Pinag-isang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) national.

Abellon said the call for strike came in a short notice that is why they were not able to prepare.

However, he assured that their group is fully supportive of the causes behind the strike which call for the rollback of oil prices, scrapping of the Oil Deregulation Law and nationalization of the oil industry.

Piston-Panay said in a statement that it strongly believes the continuous hike in oil prices is dictated by monopoly and oil cartel and not the economics of “law of supply and demand” as President Macapagal-Arroyo wants the people to believe.

"This unabated increase in oil prices resulted from the deregulation of the oil industry under the auspices of 'globalization' where the government relinquished its control over oil prices," the group added.

Abellon said the national protest action is the wake-up call of the transport sector for Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to rollback oil prices.

Abellon noted that in the eight years of implementing the Oil Deregulation Law, oil prices increased 52 times.

He said, before the law was passed, oil prices went up only 23 times.

The strike lead by Cachuela and Oting Jallorina of Fijoda barely affected transportation in the city and province of Iloilo .

Majority of transport associations plied their usual routes.

Even the big bus companies like the Vallacar Transit which operate Ceres Liner continued their operation.

Pumpboats plying the Iloilo City-Guimaras route were also business as usual.

Public and private offices were also unaffected by the strike