CCPO braces for school opening, protest rally

The Cebu City Police Office will have their hands full today because apart from preparing for the school opening, it will also be deploying teams from the Mobile Patrol Group and Traffic Police Group to handle the protest rally of a transport group.

The Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston) Cebu had announced its plan to hold the mass action today before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 to continue its objection to the government’s plan to phase out jeepneys 15 years old and older.

Piston Cebu leader Gregorio Perez said that about 100 jeepney drivers and operators will march from Maguikay, Mandaue City to the LTFRB 7 in Cebu City at 8 a.m. today.

It is a nationwide mass action of the transport group, he said.

Perez said that they will oppose the announcement of LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra to phase out all jeepneys by 2020 and to replace these with electric and solar jeepneys.

He said that his group cannot afford these types of jeepneys. Electric and solar jeepneys are priced at P1.2 million to P1.6 million each.

Perez said that the government must first uplift the living conditions of the drivers and operators before taking away their only source of livelihood.

Chief Insp. Christopher Navida, City Intelligence Branch (CIB) head, added that crowd control personnel will also be deployed on the streets.

“We will hear them out on what they will say to our government because that’s their right, but we will also be there to protect the rights of our students who are attending schools today,” Navida said.

For today’s school opening, the CCPO has required a 100 percent attendance for all its personnel to help guard thousands of students who will be attending their classes in public schools. Most of the private schools will have its school opening next week.