Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III says they are ready, his lead agency the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Saturday, downplayed the planned two-day transport strike led by Manibela and Piston on Monday, 15 April.

DOTr Undersecretary for Roads Sector Andy Ortega who guested at the Saturday News Forum said there would be no paralization of public transport that gonna happen.

“Clearly they will not paralyze metro manila and most especially the whole of the Philippines,” Ortega said.

The DoTr official is banking on other transport group like Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators sa Pilipinas (LTOP) and 20 organizations, including the Pasangmasda, FEJODAP, Stop and Go Coalition, Federation of UV Express of the Philippines, and Taxi Operators Association of the Philippines who said they will not join the transport strike.

LTOP president Orlando Marquez, said that previous transport strikes failed to paralyze public transport last year.

“Those planning to rally or protest account for merely 5 percent of the entire transportation sector,” Marquez said.

He however, said they respect the move of Manibela and Piston to conduct a transport strike.

Ortega, meanwhile, said nearly 78 percent of public utility vehicle (PUV) operators in the country have already complied with the consolidation requirement of LTFRB under the PUV Modernization Program, just a few weeks before the deadline to apply for consolidation expires.

The consolidation is the initial stage of the government's PUV Modernization Program that aims to replace traditional jeepneys with vehicles that have at least a Euro 4-compliant engine to lessen pollution and replace units that were not deemed roadworthy under the standards of the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

After the April 30 deadline, the DOTr official said the agency will focus on the Local Public Transport Route Plan or route rationalization “to add more routes… with the LGUs.”

Ortega said that the modernization of PUVs “will not be happening soon” as the actual replacement of old units with modernized ones will fall under a 27-month program.

Last Thursday Manibela and Piston announced that they would still hold a nationwide transport strike next week for the upcoming deadline for the consolidation on 30 April.

LTFRB also on that Thursday said it would offer Libreng Sakay (free ride program) to help commuters who will be affected in the two-day transport strike on 15-16 April.

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. in late January set the last deadline for the consolidation on 30 April 2024.