LRT barricaded by ex-workers

Thousands of commuters of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) were stranded when dismissed workers of the facility put up a barricade in its main depot in Baclaran, Parañaque City at dawn yesterday.

Rod Balario, acting operations chief of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), said the protest action resulted in the disruption of LRT operations for three hours and a loss of more than P1 million in revenues.

The workers belonged to the Pinag-isang Lakas ng mga Manggagawa sa Metro (PIGLAS), the employees union of Metro Transit Inc. (Metro) which used to operate the facility.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) terminated its contract with Metro after a crippling week-long strike of PIGLAS last June. He noted the barricade was put up by the ex-workers at about 3:30 a.m. after they climbed over the fence of the depot using wooden ladders.

Some 100 workers formed human barricades and also blocked the tracks with concrete slabs, keeping the trains in the depot. Regular operations of LRT start at 5:30 a.m.

Surprised security guards called the police but the workers did not vacate the premises. It was only at 6:30 a.m. when the police managed to break the barricade.

A brief confrontation erupted between the two groups, leading to the arrest of 13 PIGLAS members. The other workers escaped by running to a nearby residential area.

"LRT was able to operate at around 8:30 a.m. after the tracks were cleared of debris. Our lawyers are studying charges that we can file against the arrested workers," Balario said.

To prevent a repeat of the incident, the National Capital Region Police Office will deploy policemen to guard the LRT for 24 hours daily.

"We’ll also raise the fence of the depot. At present, it is as high as the windows of the adjacent houses that’s why the workers were able to climb over them with the use of ladders," Balario added.

Meanwhile, Malacañang rejected petitions of the PIGLAS that their members be reinstated to their former positions.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said the labor dispute falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and not the Office of the President where the union filed their petitions asking President Estrada to intervene.

Zamora disclosed he had met several times with Sammy Malunes, president of PIGLAS, to whom he had impressed his position.

This was after PIGLAS accused Zamora of inaction.

"I told him (Malunes) their problem is with the DOLE because what they were asking is for their members to be reinstated to their former jobs. We cannot do that because their contract of employment was with the company which employed them," Zamora said.

Moreover, Zamora cited their previous employer no longer has a contract with the LRT.

"So this is a labor dispute. They must talk about their separation pay and how some of them can be employed by the LRT," Zamora added. "This is not an issue for the Office of the President. The issues must be resolved at the DOLE."

Zamora also said the government, through Philippine National Police (PNP), must protect LRT facilities against radical elements of the LRT labor union.

He noted that PNP chief Director General Panfilo Lacson reported yesterday that 13 strikers from LRT were arrested for forcing their way into the complex, putting up barricades and stalling operations.

Zamora said he was reassured by Lacson that all LRT stations were under guard by the PNP to prevent further sabotage.