• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Two transport groups are not joining the May 8 transport strike in Bacolod City.
Albert Villanueva, chairman of the Sentrong Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators (SSTONE), in an interview with Bombo Radyo, said that they and the Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association (FEBACDA) have no plans to join the transport strike, although he acknowledged that UNDOC secretary general Diego Malacad informed him of their plans.
The Bacolod Alliance of Commuters, Operators and Drivers, United Negros Drivers and Operators Center, as well as the Negros Bacolod Transport Coalition announced in a press conference on Wednesday at the Negros Press Club in Bacolod City, that they will stage a transport strike on Monday
The three transport groups are also holding a rally in front of the Bacolod City Government Center to call for the abolition of Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP), which they blame for the non-renewal of their provisional authority by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to continue to operate traditional public transportation.
Bacolod City is the second highly-urbanized city in the Philippines to have its new local route plan approved by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.
LPTRP forms part of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program of the Department of Transportation and LTFRB that aims to provide safe, adequate, accessible, environment-friendly, and comfortable public transport to the general public and a long-term solution to the “worsening public transportation situation in the country.”*
