The scene on the metro’s streets on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, was the same as usual.
Private vehicles vied for space with public buses, public utility jeepneys, both modern and traditional, as well as with motorcycles.
Traffic was especially bad from the south going into Cebu City and in the uptown area because of the ongoing installation of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit. Commuters also complained about the traffic in the north, which some had attributed to fiesta-related activities in Lapu-Lapu City across the channel.
The situation might have been different had local transportation groups heeded the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide (Piston) last Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, which called for a three-day jeepney strike starting Monday.
Piston is protesting the approaching Dec. 31 deadline for the consolidation of traditional jeepneys, as part of the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.
And yet almost all of the local jeepney operators decided to break ranks because they didn’t want to inconvenience the riding public.
Or so they claimed.
Perhaps their decision had absolutely nothing to do with recent traffic violations, including one that resulted in a fatal crash involving modern jeepneys, which resulted in a public backlash that prompted the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board 7 to require operators to attend safety seminars.
But if they really do care about not disrupting “the day-to-day activities” of commuters, then they should hire drivers who know and obey traffic laws. Those who don’t should be censured immediately so as to teach them a lesson.
The jeepney, a Filipino icon since the end of the Second World War, has long been a symbol of the Filipino spirit, embodying the values of “community, resourcefulness and unity.”
Too bad “moral culpability” isn’t one of them.