Philippine transport groups yesterday launched a nationwide strike to protest a government program drivers fear would phase out traditional jeepneys, which have become a cultural icon, and other aging public transport vehicles.
However, officials braced with contingencies and deployed government vehicles to transport passengers stranded in some areas. Other groups refused to join the week-long strike that could keep more than 40,000 passenger jeepneys and vans off the streets in the Manila metropolis alone.
Protesting drivers and supporters held a noisy rally in suburban Quezon City in the capital region, then proceeded in a convoy to a government transport regulatory office to press their protest.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We’re calling on the public to support the transport strike in any way possible,” said Renato Reyes, secretary-general of the Bayan political alliance, which is backing the strike.
“The inconvenience of the transport stoppage is temporary, but the loss of livelihood of drivers and operators would be long-term,” Reyes said.
At almost noon, Philippine Secretary of Transportation Jaime Bautista said that no major transport disruption had been monitored.
Morning rush-hour traffic was heavy as usual in major roads in Manila and nearby cities.
“There is no disruption except in a handful of routes in the national capital region,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s office said by noon, citing reports from law enforcers.
Bautista said that protesting drivers who resort to violence and coercion to stop passenger vehicles not joining the strike would face criminal charges.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, who also serves as education secretary, drew criticism after saying the strike is a communist rebel-inspired action that could inconvenience students.
The government transport modernization program, first launched in 2017, aims to replace dangerously dilapidated and old passenger jeepneys and vans with modern vehicles, which have safety features and conform with carbon emissions standards. Vehicle owners have to join transport cooperatives and corporations by the end of the year for better transport management.
Opponents say most poor drivers cannot afford to purchase new passenger jeepneys, even with promised government financial aid.
“It’s OK to have modernization for those who have money, but for us jeepney drivers and operators, we cannot afford,” jeepney driver Benito Garcia said.
Others said the program would mean the demise of the gaudily decorated and brightly colored jeepneys, which have been regarded as Manila’s “King of the Road” and a showcase of Philippine culture on wheels.
The diesel-powered jeepneys evolved from military jeeps that US forces left behind after World War II. The vehicles were modified and then reproduced, many with second-hand truck chassis, and for decades were the most popular form of land transport among the working class, even though they cough out dark fumes that have been blamed for Manila’s notoriously polluted air.
When a hiker fell from a 55m waterfall in wild New Zealand bush, rescuers were forced to evacuate the badly hurt woman without her dog, which could not be found. After strangers raised thousands of dollars for a search, border collie Molly was flown to safety by a helicopter pilot who was determined to reunite the pet and the owner. A week earlier, an emergency rescue helicopter found the woman with bruises and lacerations after a fall at a rocky spot at the waterfall on the South Island’s West Coast. She was airlifted on March 24, but they were forced to
CONFIDENCE BOOSTER: ’After parkour ... you dare to do a lot of things that you think only young people can do,’ a 67-year-old parkour enthusiast said In a corner of suburban Singapore, Betty Boon vaults a guardrail, crawls underneath a slide, executes forward shoulder rolls and scales a steep slope, finishing the course to applause. “Good job,” the 69-year-old’s coach cheers. This is “geriatric parkour,” where about 20 retirees learned to tackle a series of relatively demanding exercises, building their agility and enjoying a sense of camaraderie. Boon, an upbeat grandmother, said learning parkour has aided her confidence and independence as she ages. “When you’re weak, you will be dependent on someone,” she said after sweating it out with her parkour classmates in suburban Toa Payoh,
Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen (高兟), famous for making provocative satirical sculptures of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東), was tried on Monday over accusations of “defaming national heroes and martyrs,” his wife and a rights group said. Gao, 69, who was detained in 2024 during a visit from the US, faces a maximum three-year prison sentence, said his wife, Zhao Yaliang (趙雅良), and Shane Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders group which operates outside the nation. The closed-door, one-day trial took place at Sanhe City People’s Court in Hebei Province neighboring the capital, Beijing, and ended without a
‘TOXIC CLIMATE’: ‘I don’t really recognize Labour anymore... The idea that you can implement far-right ideas in order to stop the far right is nonsense,’ a protester said Tens of thousands of people on Saturday marched through central London to protest against the far right, weeks ahead of local elections and six months after Britain saw one of its largest far-right demonstrations. Organized by hundreds of civic groups, including trade unions, anti-racism campaigners and Muslim representative bodies, Saturday’s Together Alliance event was billed as the biggest in UK history to counter right-wing extremism. A separate pro-Palestinian march had also converged with the main rally. While organizers claimed 500,000 had turned out in total, the police gave a figure of about 50,000. Protesters carrying placards with slogans such as
RSS