By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Public utility vehicles’ (PUVs) operation is now back to normal after the local transport groups decided to call off the transport strike yesterday afternoon.

During their meeting yesterday with Bacolod City Congressman Greg Gasataya and House Minority Floor Leader Congressman Stephen Paduano it was agreed that the transport groups will meet with officials from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Meanwhile, United Negros Drivers and Operators Center secretary-general Diego Malacad claimed that they managed to paralyze 98 percent of the transportation in Bacolod City during yesterday’s transport strike.

There were some PUVs that continued to operate yesterday morning but they were immediately blocked by the protesting drivers.

The Bacolod City Police Office also deployed their personnel to ensure that the strike was conducted peacefully after reports surfaced that a protesting PUV driver allegedly punched another driver who refused to participate in the strike.

Despite the alleged assault, however, the transport strike was held peacefully, and the protesting drivers even shared their meals to the guarding police officers during lunch hour, until it was called off later in the afternoon.

Provincial administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, meanwhile, said that the operations of the provincial government of Negros Occidental were not hampered yesterday during the transport strike.

Diaz said they have dispatched their buses to fetch the employees, while some opted carpooling to get to work.

He said the employees have no reason to be absent from their work despite the strike because of the system adopted by the provincial government./DGB, WDJ