Transport strike cripples Pampanga, Tarlac

In what could be a preview of the planned nationwide transport strike next week, drivers in Pampanga and Tarlac went on strike yesterday nearly crippling transport operations in the two provinces.

Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) coordinator Waldy Santos said transport operations were 80 percent paralyzed in the two provinces.

Santos noted that members of 63 transport groups in Pampanga and Tarlac participated in the strike to pressure the government to roll back the prices of pertroleum products or raise transport fare by at least P1.

"The government cannot stop the transport strike unless the government addresses the demand of the drivers," Santos said.

According to Santos, most drivers can hardly afford to buy their food and other daily needs because of the measly income, which has even been further eroded by the series of recent oil price hikes.

Piston said that since 2002, prices of gasoline and other petroleum products have increased by as much as P5.38. Unless the government heeds their call, the group said they are ready to mount a nationwide strike in cooperation with labor groups led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Gitnang Luzon (Bayan-GL) expressed its full support for the Piston strikers saying that the two-day transport srike is "legitimate and necessary as it is the product of the government’s lack of sympathy to the plight of operators and drivers in Central Luzon."

In San Fernando City in Pampanga, hundreds of commuters, mostly students were stranded. Some private and public schools have suspended their classes due to the strike. — With Ric Sapnu