A troubled transport sector

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

For the next two days, a transport groups will be holding a strike to dramatize their protest against repeated oil price increases. Perhaps the transport groups chose this time, when the Christmas rush is in full swing, to maximize the debilitating impact of their protest action on the public so that the government will take notice of their demands, which include the restriction of oil price hikes, the scrapping of the 12 percent expanded value added tax on oil products, the suspension of the Oil Deregulation Law, along with stricter price controls on spare parts and consumables.

A nationwide strike may get the transport group some of the concessions they are asking for, something that could temporarily soften the blow of the skyrocketing prices of fuel. But considering the current trend in international prices of crude oil, coupled with the unprecedented spike in demand due to the awakening of sleeping industrial giants like China and India , it seems that the era of cheap fuel is fast becoming ancient history.

The sad fact of the matter is, the Philippines has one of the most outdated, inefficient, and unsafe mass transport systems in the world. Our buses and jeepneys are relics of the past, using inefficient and polluting engines that consume more fuel and produce more dangerous emissions than they should, aside from being utterly devoid of any kind of safety features for the passengers as well as the driver.

Given the current situation, there is no doubt that the grievances and demands of the transport groups are valid and reasonable, and it is not just them, but also the whole nation that will benefit from the strike of the transport groups if their action translates to a lull in the seemingly unstoppable rise of fuel prices. But, it must also be pointed out to the transport groups going on strike, that they cannot just pin their hopes of survival on the government's response to the looming oil crisis. As the providers of a critical public service, it is also their obligation as well as in their best interests, to make sure that they modernize and make their operations more efficient and safer.*