|
MILITANT
groups urged lawmakers to prioritize and pass bills
calling for the repeal of the oil-deregulation law and
the P125 wage increase or face widespread chaos.
The call
was made by Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) as it spearheads a
nationally coordinated labor and transport strike on
Thursday with the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at
Operator Nationwide (Piston) and Transport Forum Against
Oil Price Increase (Tfopi).
Dubbed
as the “People’s Unity Against Oil Price Increases,”
members of the militant transport groups and KMU aim to
pressure the government to effect a
P125-across-the-board wage hike, repeal the
oil-deregulation law, and roll back the prices of
petroleum products.
Drivers
of different jeepney, bus, tricycle and tricycle
operators are expected to join the strike in Metro
Manila and other thickly populated urban areas in the
provinces nationwide.
Members
of KMU and its staunch ally, AnakPawis, Gabriela and
other cause-oriented groups under Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan (Bayan) are expected to join the street
protests.
“The
nationally coordinated protest actions and transport
strike on December 13 are just the beginning of a series
of demonstrations that will rock the Arroyo government
because it refuses to attend to every legitimate demand
of ordinary Filipino. The Arroyo government must beware
of what hungry Filipinos can do when they are pushed to
the wall,” KMU chairman Elmer Labog said.
Piston
protests the fact that the price of diesel has been
spiraling “because of the government’s conspiracy with
the oil cartel’s ‘Big Three.’”
Piston
said there will be route strikes and protest rallies in
Baguio City, Bulacan, Metro Manila, Laguna, Cavite,
Rizal, Batangas, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay,
Catanduanes, Masbate, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Aklan,
Roxas City, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and General
Santos.
The
two-day strike started on Wednesday in Iloilo and Aklan,
while a two-day strike will start on Thursday in Negros
Occidental.
In Metro
Manila Piston and Tfopi will lead the strike and stage
street protests at the Mabuhay Rotonda in
Quezon City,
Alabang transport terminal, Cubao, Monumento in Ever
Grand Central, Kalayaan corner Kamias, Philcoa, Aduana
Circle, Pier-South, Taytay Public Market, Novaliches
Bayan and Pacita Complex in San Pedro, Laguna.
The
labor and transport groups will also demand the repeal
of the expanded value-added tax law that imposes a 12-
percent tax on petroleum products.
The
National Police is well prepared for the two-day
nationwide strike of militant transport groups.
The
National Police chief, Director General Avelino Razon
Jr., has ordered the force’s regional directors to take
measures to mitigate the effects of the strike,
especially on peace and order.
Razon
ordered subordinate commanders to conduct intensified
police visibility and intelligence operations and
monitor the situation to identify and neutralize threat
groups and their leaders who may create trouble during
the protest action.
He also
directed his men to identify the leaders and groups
involved in the nationwide strike so that dialogues and
negotiations can be initiated with them and possibly
resolve their concerns in a peaceful manner.
The
Metro Manila police commander, Director Geary Barias,
said that the police would be fielding at least eight
trucks to transport commuters who would be affected by
the strike.
He
expects that the strike would affect 70 percent of Metro
Manila at its peak or early in the morning and gradually
reduce to 20 percent by midday.
Razon
ordered the regional directors to coordinate their
security and public-safety efforts with the local
governments in order to identify critical road networks
and installations that need protection and must be kept
operational on a 24-hour basis.
He also
mobilized Civil Disturbance Management (CDM) units to
prevent striking groups from intimidating other unions
and private individuals who are not supportive of the
strike.
In
addition, Razon told policemen in the field to document
the possible violations of strikers and their leaders,
gather evidence to support legal actions against them
and arrest them if they harass or intimidate other
groups into joining the strike.
“Do not
misconstrue these preparations as something meant to
suppress the rights of the transport groups to air their
grievances; we are only doing this to prevent untoward
incidents that may cause inconvenience to the general
public. That is why I am appealing to the strikers not
to aggravate the situation and to conduct their strike
peacefully and orderly,” he said.
In Davao
City the president of the business chamber said the
current oil-price trend should prompt a “serious look
again at the oil-deregulation law” and see how measures,
including a repeal of it and the exemption of the
transport sector from the expanded value-added tax,
“could help ease the burden on everybody.”
Domingo
Duerme, president of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (DCCCI) said: “After all these years, it
seems that the law is not working, so I think it’s worth
reviewing it now. I would personally go for its repeal
and go back to the regulated status,” he said, citing
that despite the claims of oil companies that “they have
difficult times, at the end of the year they always
declare huge profits.” |
