MMDA expects 2-day transport strike to have ‘minimal impact’

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday said it is ready for the two-day transport strike that will be staged by the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON) starting today, Thursday.

MMDA Chairperson Romando Artes said they expect the strike to have a “minimal impact” on public transportation in the metropolis, similar to what happened in another transport strike last month.

PISTON national president Mody Floranda said around 100,000 jeepney drivers and operators are expected to join the strike, which is being held to protest the impending phaseout of traditional jeepneys on December 31 as set under the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program.

Floranda said among the routes in Metro Manila expected to be affected by the strike include Commonwealth Ave., Monumento, Novaliches, Pasig, Bagumbayan, Marikina, Alabang, Baclaran, Rizal and España, Manila.

Pasig Pateros Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (PPJODA) board member Rodolfo Molina said 2,000 jeepney operators and drivers in Pasig City will join the strike.

Artes, however, downplayed the strike, saying the MMDA has been able to fine-tune its response to such mass actions to the point where they are now confident to say public transportation will not be crippled.

“Our preparations in past transport strikes have been effective. We now have shorter response time, better coordination with other agencies, including the PNP, especially if there are incidents of harassment, and in prepositioning our personnel at vehicles,” Artes said, adding: “I think we now have come to the point that we will no longer be held hostage by transport groups.”

To underscore how the agency sees the transport strike, Artes said the implementation of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or the “number coding” scheme” will not be suspended.

“We will not suspend the number coding scheme. We all know that every time we suspend the number coding, it results in 20 percent additional vehicles in our roadways,” he said, adding the 20 percent is equivalent to 800 more vehicles on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and 400 on the C-5 road.

Artes, however, said