How do you shoot a target without incurring collateral casualties?

Today is the start of the three-day nationwide "tigil pasada" or transport strike organized by the progressive group Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide or PISTON, which expects around 100,000 drivers and operators to join the protest action.

The jeepney strike will attempt to paralyze public transportation operations in conveying its message. This action will hit the wrong target — the commuters — so that the government will be blamed for not listening.

Blame the government; PISTON insists as it fights tooth and nail in challenging the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program, a plan to replace jeepneys, buses, and other public utility vehicles that are older than 15 years and make them at par with environmental and safety standards.

Blame the commuters, too, PISTON might wish to add, for reporting to their classes, workplaces, and business establishments instead of sympathizing with them by simply staying home.

The strike occurred a month before the December 31 PUV consolidation deadline for traditional jeepneys and UV Express.

Already, 56 percent or 96,000 of the 170,000 jeepneys nationwide have consolidated, according to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board or LTFRB. Around 25 percent of the 44,000 jeepney units in Metro Manila alone were consolidated.

PISTON president Mody Floranda feels the deadline automatically takes away the livelihood of drivers and operators. There's the carrot and stick. Eligible small operators and drivers can avail themselves of a 5.6 percent subsidy with a 6 percent loan interest rate payable in 7 years. Each modern jeepney costs from P1.4 million to P3 million, which PISTON members find too expensive and a debt burden. For those who cannot afford to borrow, it is a death sentence for their families, and those who fail to comply will be ordered to stop operations. If this is not forced borrowing, I don't know what is.

The government wants jeepney operators to join cooperatives or corporations by the end of 2023, thinking this would enable them to afford the loans and payment plans to buy modern jeepneys on top of their household, food, educational, and other incidental expenses.