Multi-sector, bizmen back Negros transport strike

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines   — The two-day transport strike in Negros Occidental, which was started yesterday by the United Negros Drivers Operators Center (UNDOC), was supported by business and multi-sectoral groups.

   There were claims though that the strike, which was held to protest high fuel prices, did not paralyze yesterday's public transportation as other transport organizations, like the Federation of Bacolod City Drivers Association (FEBACDA) and Ceres Liner did not join it.

Jesse Ortega, UNDOC secretary general, however, said his group was able to paralyze 90 percent of public transportation.

The striking groups have been protesting the high costs of fuel that has led to the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, and the fuel price disparity in Negros Occidental where consumers pay about P5 more per liter compared to the prices in Metro Manila and other cities.

The Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Bacolod Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry said they are supporting the strike, and many of their member-business establishments have closed shops for the whole day yesterday to show their support.

Governor Alfredo Maranon last week appealed to UNDOC to call off the strike, saying it will not achieve anything productive and will only affect the poor, but Ortega said they cannot heed the call of the governor because staging it was agreed upon by multi-sectoral groups.

Ortega added the strike may be counterproductive to those who have money but it is not counterproductive to the people suffering from the constant increase of fuel prices who need government to heed their call.

Representative Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (3rd District, Neg. Occ.) said he shared the sentiments of Maranon in discouraging the holding of a two-day transport strike, saying the people themselves will suffer its consequences.

"If they are trying to send a message to us, we have heard it," Benitez said, adding that he has already filed in Congress a resolution to address the concerns of transport groups.

As the House resumed its sessions yesterday, Benitez said he asked the committee on energy to immediately hold an inquiry on the fuel price disparity between Negros Occidental and Metro Manila.