Transport groups from Undoc PISTON, KNETCO, and Bayan Negros conducted a protest rally and transport action yesterday morning at Magsaysay Flyover and Burgos-Lopez Jaena Streets in Bacolod City, raising issues on oil price hikes, excise tax, and other social concerns, a press release from the Bacolod City Police Office said.
Around 50 individuals with 20 PUJs gathered at the Magsaysay flyover, while 25 individuals with three PUJs assembled at Burgos, led by Eric Bendoy, Rodolfo Gardoce, Lilian Simbrano, Berlita Ante, and Noli Rosales.
Their right to assemble and express grievances was respected, and in turn, they recognized the authority of the institution to maintain peace and order. With 174 personnel deployed, the situation remained controlled with no unnecessary violence, no hurtful words or acts, and full observance of restraint on both sides.
The activity concluded through peaceful and voluntary dispersal, with the strike at Magsaysay ending at 11:04 a.m. and Burgos at 10:25 a.m. Their concerns were aired, order was preserved, and no untoward incident was recorded.
BAYAN NEGROS STATEMENT
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Negros expressed its full and militant solidarity with the drivers and operators of UNDOC-PISTON, KNETCO, and all transport groups that launched the strike, Bayan spokesperson Berlita Ante said in a press release.
The protest is a legitimate and necessary response to an unbearable crisis—a crisis manufactured not by global markets alone, but by a national government that prioritizes taxes and corporate profits over the lives of its people.
The declared “state of energy emergency” by the Marcos Jr. administration is a hollow gesture, a confession of failure without concrete action. It provides no shield to our drivers, who now count their daily earnings not in profit, but in survival. This is not an income; this is a death sentence for a family’s future, a slow starvation sanctioned by state policy.
The root of this crisis is the system of bureaucrat capitalism, where the government functions as a tax collector for foreign oil companies and a protector of local cartels. The TRAIN Law continues to bleed the people dry, imposing VAT and excise taxes on petroleum products that only inflate prices and fill government coffers at our expense. Meanwhile, the oil industry, dominated by a few powerful players, engages in unchecked profiteering, exploiting every global pretext to jack up prices.
We echo and amplify the just demands of the transport sector: to immediately scrap the VAT and excise taxes on petroleum products. This is the most direct and significant price cut the government can execute. No more excuses; enforce a substantial rollback. The government must use its powers and resources to intervene, not just watch from the sidelines;
Distribute sufficient and unconditional emergency aid to all affected drivers and operators. Ayuda now, not empty promises; and investigate and penalize oil cartels for profiteering. The era of unregulated price hikes must end.
BAYAN Negros calls on all sectors—workers, peasants, students, professionals—to stand in solidarity with the striking transport workers. Support their demands. Join the protests. The failure of the Marcos Jr. government to address this crisis with seriousness reveals its true allegiance: to foreign interests and the local oligarchy, not to the Filipino people.*
