Strike not the cause of gridlock

MANILA, Philippines - We take exception to The Philippine STAR news item today, July 15, “Strikers stall MICP operations resulting in traffic gridlock along Roxas Boulevard” by Nestor Etolle, it being inaccurate.

There is no strike at the MICP. The DOLE’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board, which monitors the labor situation in the country, including that in the North Harbor, reported that the cause of the gridlock was the huge number of container trucks that bogged down at the height of typhoon Basyang and the traffic that was re-routed for security reasons in anticipation of President Benigno S. Aquino’s visit to BASECO.

To say, therefore, that “hundreds of striking workers paralyzed operations at the Manila International Container Port” is misleading.