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Marcos thanks transport groups for amicable end of strike

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Katrina Domingo and Raffy Cabristante, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Jeepneys ply their route along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on March 7, 2023, despite a transport group. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/03/08/20230307-jeepney-strike-day-2-md-4.jpg"/><figcaption>Jeepneys ply their route along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on March 7, 2023, despite a transport group. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div> MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said the extension of a deadline for traditional jeepney drivers and operators to consolidate was enough to fix issues hounding the public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program. Marcos gave the statement a day after Manibela and PISTON, two jeepney drivers’ organizations, attended a meeting in Malacañang and agreed to resume operations following a 2-day transport strike.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/08/23/group-announces-end-of-transport-strike-after-malacaang-meeting">Group announces end of transport strike after Malacañang meeting</a></li></ul>“Ako’y nagpapasalamat sa kanila. Sa palagay ko naramdaman nila na they have made their point very clearly na kailangan natin tingnan at pag-aralang mabuti at balikan natin ang sistema sa pagpalit ng mga jeepney, mga bus,” Marcos told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Quezon City.“Maganda naman ang aming usapan. Nag-postpone tayo [ng consolidation] hanggang December… Sa tingin ko sapat na panahon na yun para ayusin natin ang sistema sa pagpalit ng ating mga jeepney,” he said. (I thank them. I think they felt that they have made their point very clearly, that we need to study and thoroughly review the system of replacing jeepneys and buses. Our discussion was good. We postponed the consolidation deadline until December. I think that is enough to fix the system.) Government earlier said the consolidation, the first step in the modernization plan, would help operators secure bank loans for modern jeepneys, which some groups said were too expensive at around P1.2 million per unit. Hundreds of jeepney drivers halted operations on Monday and Tuesday in protest of the government’s policy of phasing out traditional jeepneys. The strike, which was supposed to last for a week, caused longer travel time for commuters and prompted several schools and companies to shift to online classes or work from home schemes. On Tuesday, after a meeting in Malacañang, the leaders of Manibela and PISTON said they would resume operations within the week and apologized to commuters who were affected by the strike.The government does not intend to add to the burden of jeepney drivers, Marcos Jr. said.“Hindi tayo nagbibigay nang dagdag pahirap para sa ating mga transport workers,” the President said.“Ang tinitingnan namin ngayon ay tiyakin na walang mawawalan ng trabaho dahil hindi makabili ng electric vehicle,” he added.(We are not adding to the difficulties of our transport workers. We are looking at ensuring that no one would lose their jobs because they cannot afford electric vehicles.)But PISTON national president Mody Floranda told ABS-CBN&#x27;s TeleRadyo that they would continue monitoring developments on the program&#x27;s implementation, even if Marcos Jr. had given instructions to review the guidelines.Floranda urged the President to issue an executive order so that their agreements during Tuesday&#x27;s meeting would have legal basis.He also said PISTON would continue talks with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).&quot;Kaya lang tayo humantong dito sa strike dahil nadismaya tayo doon sa posisyon nila noong nagkaroon ng hearing sa Senado kung saan pinipilit pa rin nila na itulak ang modernization,&quot; he said.(We only resorted to a strike because we were disappointed by their position during a Senate hearing last year, where they insisted on pushing for the modernization.)Floranda said jeepney operations have returned to normal since they ended the strike.Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil said Malacañang was committed to listening to the sentiments and suggestions of transport groups.The idea of a future jeepney phaseout was not discussed during Tuesday&#x27;s meeting.&quot;Aminado naman po ang pareho ang PISTON at ang MANIBELA na kailangan talaga i-modernize ang ating mga PUV pero ang naging problema lang ay ang naging implementasyon nito, na kailangang review-hin para di naman mahirapan ang hanay ng mga transportasyon,&quot; she said. (Both PISTON and MANIBELA admitted that we need to modernize our PUVs. But the only problem was its implementation, which needs to be reviewed so that the transportation sector would not suffer.) She added that &quot;miscommunication&quot; between the government and transport groups triggered the strike.&quot;Ang problema nila, mukhang naputol ang komunikasyon at nagkaroon ng mga haka-haka kaya medyo naguluhan so nagkaroon sila ng tigil-pasada noong nakaraan,&quot; Garafil said. (The problem is that it appears communication stopped and we have a theory that there was some confusion, which led to the strike.)Under the original jeepney modernization plan, drivers must form cooperatives or face the revocation of their transport franchises.Some drivers have decried the policy as they need to pay thousands of pesos to join cooperatives, which they said would bury them in debt.<div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2493612" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

President Marcos said the extension of a consolidation deadline for traditional jeepneys was enough to fix issues hounding the PUV modernization. 

Marcos thanks transport groups for amicable end of strike

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Marcos thanks transport groups for amicable end of strike

Katrina Domingo and Raffy Cabristante,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 08, 2023 01:18 PM PHT

Read More:

PUV

jeepney

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Bongbong Marcos

Cheloy Garafil

Piston

Manibela

transport strike

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