CDO transport group skips strike amid soaring fuel prices

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A transport group in Northern Mindanao will no longer join the scheduled nationwide strike, as they will no longer ply their routes due to the rising cost of fuel triggered by the Middle East crisis.

Luzminda Escobidol, president of the Northern Mindanao Transport Cooperatives, said that as of Friday, the cost of diesel in the region has reached P100 per liter and is expected to increase daily, making their trips unprofitable.

She said long-distance routes of buses used to generate at least P20,000 per day but have been reduced to only P10,000, minus the maintenance costs and salaries of employees.

“ Instead of joining nationwide it was decided that we will cease operation, “transport Pahulay (rest) to prevent more losses” she said.

Earlier, the Masa Sara Duterte Alliance (MASADA) decried what it called the “laban-bawi policy” of the government in addressing the economic crisis triggered by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

MASADA, in a statement, said the suspension of the fare increase hike already approved by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and the lack of a master list of beneficiaries of the promised P5,000 assistance to drivers and operators, is now sowing confusion among transport groups and commuters.

It said the fare increase matrix approved by the LTFRB, which was supposed to take effect starting Thursday, was expected to coincide with the distribution of the P5,000 fuel subsidy, but the LTFRB has no existing list of qualified beneficiaries to receive the fuel subsidy.

The list used in the initial distribution in the National Capital Region came from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).