Rescue Units to be Deployed to Ferry Commuters on 3-Day Transport Strike Next Week

MANILA: A government task force has prepared contingency plans to make sure commuters will not be inconvenienced by the scheduled three-day transport strike from July 24 to 26.

The Inter-Agency Task Force Monitoring Team (IATF-MT) meeting on Tuesday was presided over by Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevarra and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Don Artes.

Guevarra urged local government units (LGUs) to work with the MMDA's single dispatching system to deploy rescue vehicles to transport passengers during the transport strike, which will coincide with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24.

He pointed out that such initiatives were effective during the previous transport strike.

“We were able to address the needs of the riding public before because of the united efforts of the government with agencies and 17 Metro Manila local government units,” Guevarra stated.

The situation across Metro Manila will be monitored by the recently opened MMDA Communications and Command Center in Pasig City to ensure peace and order along the affected roads.

“During the last transport strike, we were able to monitor through the CCTV cameras the convergence of rallyists, and could easily call the PNP to maintain peace and order,” Guevarra said.

In the unlikely event of a passenger build-up, national and local government agencies offered to send out their rescue units or vehicles to help commuters.

The MMDA has created a list of such assets for use in decision-making and prompt deployment of vehicles during the strike.

Earlier, transport group Manibela revealed its plan of holding a three-day transport strike starting on Monday.

The strike, according to Manibela chair Mar Valbuena, is brought on by the government's alleged favor toward corporations or LGUs over PUV operators and drivers in the allocation of PUV routes.

Photo from Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board

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