Government and police authorities are finding ways to rid of striking union workers the Dumaguete City port, where President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will disembark on Friday to attend the 88th birthday celebration of former Rep. Herminio Teves (Neg. Or., 3rd district).

Arroyo will arrive in Dumaguete from Palawan, and it would be an awful sight for her to see the strikers, Mayor Agustin Perdices, who chairs the multi-sectoral Crisis Management Committee overseeing the port dispute, said.

Porters continue to peacefully picket at the port amid a controversy that has shifted to a perceived "peace and order" problem.

Perdices has said that a resolution is being passed around for the committee members to sign, and will be forwarded to the Philippine Ports Authority in Manila.

He said the resolution includes a recommendation for the extension of the PPA-Dumaguete's temporary takeover of the cargo handling services at the port for another month after May 5. 

The mayor said the committee is also recommending that during the extended period, the PPA will also hire all the striking union workers alongside the new port workers, while authorities continue to look for a peaceful remedy to the conflict.

In early April General manager Oscar Sevilla of the PPA ruled that PPA-Dumaguete, through its Special Take-over Unit would be in charge of cargo handling operations for 30 days beginning April 5.

This was after a deadlock between the striking workers affiliated with the Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and the winning bidder, Prudential Customs Brokerage Services, Inc.

PCBSI legal counsel Joel Obar had withdrawn their petition for an injunction and for a temporary restraining order against the ALU-TUCP strikers, saying the port problem is no longer labor-related but a mere peace and order matter for the police and the local government to address.

Cargo handling operations at the port rolled to a stop after the strikers managed to get inside and camp out in the pier area.

Only passengers and their personal belongings are allowed in and out of the port while larger volumes of cargo are being offloaded elsewhere in Negros Oriental.

Perdices said he is optimistic that hiring the striking workers, albeit temporarily, will immediately solve the problem.

Meanwhile, special police units are on a refresher course on Civil Disturbance Management to ensure a peaceful dispersal of the strikers when the need arises.

The CDM team and the newly-created Special Weapons and Tactics team of the Negros Oriental police office were harnessing their skills over the weekend, as police Region 7 Director C/Supt. Ronald Roderos will arrive in Dumaguete this morning.

Police provincial director S/Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe has reassured that the police will employ maximum tolerance in the enforcement of any directive from the CMC.

Buenafe said that, unless otherwise told, the police will be taking orders from the CMC where the port issue is concerned.*JG

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