The leader of jeepney driver labor group Piston George San Mateo was arrested today for leading several jeepney strikes earlier this year, in protest of the forthcoming jeepney modernization program.
READ: Old jeepneys have until January to get off the road: official
San Mateo in front of the Quezon City Hall of Justice, where he was supposed to post bail.
He was charged for alleged violation of the Public Service Act, a very broad and old law from the Philippine Commonwealth era, for leading a nationwide transport strike last February.
San Mateo, who was accompanied by Representatives Antonio Tino of ACT Teachers, and Ariel Casilao of Anakpawis, insisted his right to post a PHP4,000 (US$80) bail but the authorities arrested him anyway.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary General Renato Reyes earlier said authorities attempted to serve the arrest warrant at the Kilusang Mayo Uno (May 1) office Monday night.
“George was not at the KMU office, and Piston is no longer holding office in the building. The police action was undertaken late in the evening and was intended to intimidate protesting groups. We will vigorously protest these attacks and all efforts to stifle legitimate dissent,” said Reyes.
San Mateo had cancelled off a two-day transport strike originally scheduled Monday after Senator Grace Poe called for transport groups to air their grievances in a Senate hearing.
The Piston-led No to Jeepney Phase-out Coalition has mounted transport strikes several times this year. They claimed drivers will not be able to shoulder the PHP1.6 million (US$32,000) cost of the new jeepney units.
Aileen Lizada, spokesperson and boardmember of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, previously said a memo by the agency does not allow operators to stop operations to protest any government policy.
The LTFRB board member had warned jeepney drivers and operators of losing their franchises if they joined a transport strike.
Poe, however, questioned the basis of San Mateo’s arrest.
“Everyone has the right to peaceably assemble. It is unclear based on the cited section of the Public Service Act what exactly San Mateo violated,” she was quoted in an Inquirer.net report.
“If holding a strike is tantamount to a violation under any memorandum of the LTFRB, then the proper penalty should have been a fine or suspension or cancellation of their franchise, not threatening their leader with incarceration.”
“All told, this confusion is a manifestation that the PSA has to be revisited and studied carefully to result in a more balanced interplay between public service, on the one hand, and the right to peaceably assemble, on the other hand,” Poe added.
Last October, President Rodrigo Duterte gave drivers and operators until January to comply with the government’s jeepney modernization program.
with reports from ABS-CBN News
