MMDA ‘strictly’ monitoring ongoing transport strike

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is strictly monitoring the three-day transport strike launched by the group Manibela to ensure that stranded commuters are provided transportation if the need arises.

In a statement, the MMDA’s Public Information Office (PIO) confirmed that the Multi-Agency Command Center (MACC) is overseeing the strike across the metropolis.

The agency has coordinated responses with local government units and other government bodies, stating that free-ride vehicles have been prepositioned and will be deployed as necessary.

“As much as possible, we will not deploy free rides so as not to compete with the jeepney drivers who are still operating,” the PIO said in a message, indicating a preference for allowing non-striking drivers to continue their routes.

The transport strike, which Manibela announced, began at 6 a.m. Tuesday, with an estimated 20,000 jeepneys not plying routes across Metro Manila and several other provinces.

The three-day action is intended to protest what the group calls the unfair and oppressive implementation of the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).

Manibela is seeking to pressure the government into halting franchise consolidation and reopening negotiations with affected drivers and operators and argued that thousands of jeepney drivers could be displaced if the mandatory franchise consolidation continues without proper financial assistance.

Manibela chair Mar Valbuena criticized the registration process under the modernization effort. “Since the months of May, June and July, we have been tasked to have our vehicles inspected and to get insurance in order to have our vehicles registered,” Valbuena said. “They made us pay, they made us go back and forth. The only ones who gained from this are the inspection centers and insurance companies.”

Launched in 2017, the PUVMP seeks to phase out old jeepneys and replace them with units equipped with engines that meet at least the Euro 4 emissions standard.

Manibela has also criticized delays in vehicle processing and registration. The group claimed that penalties often reach over P12,000 in many cases, frequently paired with driver’s license suspensions and demerit points.

The organization further alleged that bribery and an entrenched “payola system” within the ranks of Land Transportation Office enforcers have worsened. They also criticized the slow release of vehicle registrations for drivers who have already settled the required fees.