Luzon jeepney drivers oppose PUV phaseout

TARLAC: Jeepney drivers and operators in several vital points in Luzon are staging a caravan this Thursday to protest the impending phaseout of 15-year-old public utility vehicles in January.

Kelvin Vistan of the Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (Kilusan), who leads the member- federations of the Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator na Tutol sa PUV Phaseout (STOP) said the caravan will head to the Department of Transportation (DoTr)

Red-shirted contingents from Tarlac, Baguio, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Zambales, Bulacan, Pampanga, Lucena City (Quezon), Montalban (Rizal) and the National Capital Region (Metro Manila) will converge at Northwalk in San Fernando, Pampanga, where a short program will be staged until 9:30 a.m.

The caravan will proceed to Angeles City and the Salakot in front of the Clark gate where “Panata ng Pagkakaisa” will take place.

It will be followed by unity program dubbed “Kilusan ng Mamamayan Laban sa Phaseout” where transport groups will be joined by multisectoral organizations including the Workers for People’s Liberation that will lead the torch parade to the DoTr.

“We are making a clear stand against this unjust and pro-elite and pro-corporate plan. The DoTr plan is not a modernization plan but a massive phaseout plan designed to junk serviceable units to replace them with costlier and impractical vehicles,” a Kilusan statement said.