Hundreds of commuters and inter-city travelers were stranded as early as 6AM as public utility jeepneys operating around Bacolod City halted its operations at 3AM today, March 21, for a 2-day transport strike.
After waiting for hours in major streets of Bacolod with the hope to catch a ride, travelers, mostly office-goers were forced to walk several kilometers to reach their workplaces on time. Some tricycles and taxis were also seen taking advantage of the strike and started picking up passengers for an extra charge. People were desperately looking for a mode of transportation to reach their respective destinations on the first day of work week.
But, at around 8AM, Negros News Online noted a significant increased of private vehicles, mostly sports utility vehicles (SUVs), in major roads, including Araneta, Lacson and Circumferencial Roads.
4AM
Bacolod City gov’t offers “libre sakay” to stranded passengers
Bacolod City gov’t offers “libre sakay” to stranded passengersTo assist workers in both private and public officers who are affected by the transport strike, the city government of Bacolod has deployed its buses and rescue trucks to ferry stranded passengers.
The augmentation vehicles from the city will run until tomorrow, with designated stops around the city.
8AM
Drivers converge at Rally points
Drivers and operators started to converged at rally points around the city to protest against the rising oil prices.
Member of the Bacolod City Police Office were also deployed at the rally centers to observe “maximum tolerance.”
10AM
Rallyists flag jeepneys plying at Alijis-Araneta
A live video streamed on RMN’s DYHB Facebook page showed a number of rallyists flagged a jeepney plying Alijis-Central Market that attempted to operate. The group has forced the jeepeney driver to unload his passengers at the Cor. Alijis-Araneta Sts.
Bacolod cancels vaxx drive in malls
The City of Bacolod has cancelled the on-going vaccination against COVID-19 in mega-vaccination sites situated in major malls in the city in solidarity with the transport group.
Vaccination will resume on Wednesday, March 23.
12PM
Bacolod solon attends congressional hearing on the release of fuel subsidy for transport groups
Bacolod solon attends congressional hearing on the release of fuel subsidy for transport groupsCongressman Greg Gasataya and House Minority Leader Joseph Stephen “Caraps” Paduano raised the concerns of local transport groups in the ongoing House Committee on Transportation meeting on the status of the release of fuel subsidies and provision of assistance to transport groups in response to rising cost of fuel
