3-day provincial PUJ strike starts today
Jeepney operators and drivers plying provincial routes in Iloilo will hold a three-day strike starting today to protest a city ordinance regulating the entry and trips of provincial jeepneys in the city.
Majority of the 25-member Federation of Iloilo Jeepney Operators and Drivers Associations (Fijoda) will join the strike, according to its president Proceso Parreño.
The group is opposing Iloilo City's Perimeter Boundary Ordinance (PBO) which provides for the implementation of a car-pass system, the shortening of routes of provincial jeepneys and the regulation against picking up passengers within the downtown area.
Parreño said the provisions of the PBO have resulted to a drastic drop in the income of jeepney drivers because of the stringent limit in the allowed routes and areas where they can pick up passengers.
"Coupled with the non-stop increase of oil prices, the PBO is slowly killing us. If drivers have an option, they would find other jobs," said Parreño. City officials have refused to change the provisions of the ordinance because they said these will defeat the objective of the PBO to reduce the number of vehicles entering the city and reduce traffic. The drivers initially planned a one-week strike but local officials appealed to the group to at least shorten their protest citing its impact on the economy.
The strike could affect routes between Iloilo City and the 41 towns and one city in the province and hamper the transport of agricultural goods and other trade activities. Commercial centers will also be affected because the bulk of consumers come from the province.
Parreño said they are open to negotiations and will call off their strike if an agreement can be reached.
Public transport in the city is expected to remain unaffected after the Iloilo City Alliance of Drivers Associations (Icada), main transport group in the city, announced that they will be not be joining the strike because the issue only affects provincial jeepney drivers and operators.
Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. said the provincial government will deploy dump trucks to towns near the city's boundaries to ferry employees to the provincial capitol.