Jeepney drivers in Philippines to go on 3-day strike starting Monday

MANILA: Jeepney drivers in the Philippines will mount a three-day nationwide strike starting Monday to protest the government’s plans to remove decades-old jeepneys off the streets.

The transport strike, which will run until May 1, has prompted the Department of Education to order all public schools nationwide to resort to online classes on April 29 and 30.

The educational directive was issued also as some parts of the Philippines have broken their highest temperature records in recent days. The sweltering weather is forecast to persist until the middle of May.

In January, Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos extended the government’s deadline for jeepney operators and drivers until April 30 to consolidate into a cooperative or corporation to continue operating.

The government has warned that after May 1, jeepneys that fail to consolidate will be apprehended and not allowed to ply the streets.

Some operators and drivers have been opposed to the public utility vehicle modernization program. They staged several transport strikes in the past months to voice their protest.

The elongated, flatbed passenger jeepney is the most popular mode of public transport in the Philippines. These iconic vehicles have been plying the streets across the Southeast Asian country since World War II. Government data showed that around 160,000 transitional jeepneys are running across the country.

Jeepneys have been blamed for increasing road accidents, partly because of their wild drivers’ notoriously reckless operation on Manila’s streets.

-Xinhua