ROXAS: PROTEST CARAVAN, NO STRIKE
MANILA, MARCH 19, 2012
(STANDARD) Written by Rio N. Araja - TRANSPORT groups on Friday
threatened to paralyze 99 percent of Metro Manila's transportation system if the
government fails to raise the minimum jeepney fare by 50 centavos.
Robert Martin of Pasang Masda announced his members would hold a transport
holiday in Metro Manila if the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory
Board refused to grant the 50-centavo increase.
"We are giving the government until Tuesday to decide," he told the Manila
Standard.
Martin said the group was frustrated over the regulatory board's failure to
issue a resolution on its petition in the last two weeks.
"Drivers and operators could no longer bear the brunt of the high pump
prices, especially during this coming summer," he said.
Pasang Masda, the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of
the Philippines, Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the
Philippines, Liga ng Transportasyon at Opereytors sa Pilipinas, MTU-Transporter,
Alliance of Concerned Transport Operators, and 1-United Transportasyon Koalisyon
will meet to discuss their plans, he said.
Martin said they would try to replicate their 2008 transport strike that
paralyzed Metro Manila.
"We can call over 30,000 operators and drivers to join us," he said.
Militant groups, meanwhile, lashed out at presidential spokesman
Edwin Lacierda for saying Thursday's protest rallies merely made commuters
suffer.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes said it was the
Palace that was making the people suffer through the President's inaction on the
rising fuel costs.
Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano warned the Palace against "riots and people's
wrath," saying the government faced bigger and nationally coordinated protests
if it remained deaf to the public's clamor for action.
The militant groups want the government to suspend the collection of the
value-added tax on oil products and to repeal the oil deregulation law.
"Malacañang better not wait for riots and other spontaneous actions from the
public and start acting decisively to stop price hikes and oil overpricing,"
Mariano said.
"Malacañang has said more about how they are going to deal with protesters
than how they are going to deal with the problem of high oil prices," Reyes
said.
"The Palace, as usual, excels in overreaction but fails to address
the reasons for the protest. It has no concrete and thoroughgoing plan to
address the impact of rising petroleum prices. Consumers are fed up with this
government's callousness."
Reyes said the Palace and the oil firms were "making a killing" from the
price increases at the public's expense, earning P1 billion for every dollar
increase in the price of oil abroad.
Malacañang said Friday it was open to amending the Oil Deregulation Law as a
means to bring down the prices of petroleum products, but it has yet to take a
position on the proposals for a sliding value-added tax once oil prices reach
$100 a barrel.
"There are some parts of the Oil Deregulation Law that need to be examined,
which is already being studied by the Department of Energy," deputy presidential
spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.
Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug earlier said one of the proposed amendments
was to allow the government to fine oil firms for overpricing without having to
go to court.
Valte, however, said the Finance Department would still have to study a
proposal from former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for the government to
impose a "sliding VAT rate."
Diokno said the 12-percent value-added tax could be reduced to 10 percent
once oil prices hit $100 a barrel as a means of instantly easing the burden on
transport groups and consumers alike.
"I would have to consult with Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima on the
implications of that proposal and whether the economic managers have also
discussed such a proposal," Valte said.
Malacañang earlier rejected the call of Senator Ralph Recto, author of the
VAT law, for the government to slash the 12 percent tax to 10 percent across the
board and not just for oil.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said while the economy "continues its
upswing," the government still cannot afford to reduce the VAT.
"We need it right now to continue to fund our programs," Lacierda said.
Recto said it was time the government considered bringing the VAT down to 10
percent and has government-owned and -controlled agencies replenish lost
revenues. With Joyce Pangco Pañares
FROM MANILA BULLETIN
It will be a protest caravan, not a transport
strike
MANILA, Philippines — It will be a protest caravan, not a transport
strike, that a group of jeepney operators and drivers will hold in Metro Manila
to denounce the unabated increase in fuel prices.
Transportation Secretary Manuel Roxas II said Wednesday the Pag-kakaisa ng
mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) and its allies gave the
assurance that they do not intend to paralyze public transport and strand
thousands of commuters.
"There is no transport strike or boycott. Our operators said they will only
have a protest caravan wherein they can air their views on the Oil Law and
Value-Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products," Roxas said in a radio interview.
Piston is calling on the government to once again regulate the oil industry
to prevent overpricing and cartelization, and a temporary suspension of the VAT
on petroleum products to bring prices down to affordable rates.
Roxas said the government "is doing all that it can to mitigate the effects
of oil price increases (in the transport sector) but the (our operators and
drivers should know that) this increase in prices is due to the political
instability in the Middle East," he said.
Roxas, who supported the suspension of the 12 percent VAT on oil products
when he was a senator in 2007, said the present cost of oil in the world market
is not compelling enough to warrant the tax's suspension.
"What is important is that whatever fund that government generates from the
VAT is being used appropriately and in a corrupt-free and transparent way," he
said.
Piston President George San Mateo said its members and supportesr will not go
on strike but several of them will picket the head office of Chevron Philippines
along Ayala Avenu in Makati City.
Piston is also calling for a R1 fare increase for jeepneys, and the
investigation of big oil companies for overpricing.
San Mateo said similar protest actions will be held by the group in Isabela,
Baguio City, Laguna, Bicol, Panay, Cebu, Dumaguete City, Bacolod City, Caraga
Region, Cagayan de Oro City, General Santos City, and Davao City.
Another major transport group, the Pangkalahatang Sanggunian Manila Suburbs
Drivers Association (Pasang Masda), said it will not take to the streets but
will waiting for the decision of the Land Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on its petition for a 50-centavo provisional fare hike.
LTFRB Chairman Jaime Jacob said the board will postpone the resolution of the
jeepney operators' petition and will hold a final consultation with the
petitioners before finally issuing its decision.
On the eve of Piston's protest caravan, the Department of Energy (DoE) said
Pantawid Pasada card-carrying jeepney drivers with plate numbers ending in "2"
can avail themselves of the second tranche of the government's fuel subsidy
program.
D0E Oil Industry Management Bureau Chief Zenaida Monsada said beginning last
Tuesday, the eligible card holders can now present their cards at accredited gas
stations around the country and fill up with R1,200 worth of fuel.
Monsada said the D0E began reloading the Pantawid Pasada cards with R1,200
credits last February 29, beginning with drivers of Public Utility Jeeps (PUJs)
whose plate numbers end in "0".
Last March 6, the cardholders of jeeps with license plates ending in "1" were
reloaded.
The DoE said it would soon announce the corresponding reloading schedule of
other beneficiaries, that is, with plate numbers ending in 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and
9.
Monsada said at least 10,000 recipients per set or 100,000 Pantawid Pasada
cardholders in total will benefit from the P1,200 aid.
The fuel subsidy program was revisited this year amid the continued rise of
petroleum product prices, brought about in large part by the tension in the
oil-rich Middle East, particularly over Iran's nuclear program.
Monsada also said Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp., and Chevron Philippines
(formerly Caltex)—collectively known as the "Big Three"—have assured the DoE
that they will not raise pump prices this week.
"Their commitment to us is that they won't raise gasoline and diesel prices
this week," she said.
Fuel prices have been increased five times in as many weeks. A total of nine
price increases have been enforced this year, as opposed to only two price
rollbacks.
Operators or drivers who harm or harass drivers and the riding public
Thursday face cancellation of their franchises, Presidential Spokesman Edwin
Lacierda said Wednesday.
"We hope those who will participate in the transport strike will not cause
harm to the public or threaten or prevent them from going about their daily
business," Lacierda said during a Palace news conference. "If you do
participate, you will have to face the consequences if any untoward incident
happens." (Additional reports by Carlo Suerte Felipe and
Genalyn D. Kabiling)
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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