By MITCH LIPA
ABS-CBN Bacolod
The number of passengers of fastcrafts in Bacolod City dropped by 80 percent on the first day of a two-day transport strike in Negros Occidental Monday.
Jojo Mondragon, Weesam Express terminal operations supervisor, said the average number of passengers per trip does not normally go below 200.
One of their afternoon trips to Iloilo on Monday however had only 20 passengers.
Mondragon said the transport strike adversely affected their business. He said thought that they understand the cause of public jeepney drivers and operators especially amid the continued increase in oil prices.
Despite the drop in the number of passengers however, the company continued its operation during the strike to cater to passengers going to and from Iloilo and Bacolod.
Weesam’s fastcrafts ply the Bacolod-Iloilo-Bacolod routes eight times a day catering to passengers in Western Visayas.
Mondragon added that the management may reduce the number of trips Tuesday, the second day of the two-day transport strike as their projected income may not be able to cope with the cost of fuel.
UNDOC: 95% paralysis on Monday in Neg. Occ but PNP disagrees
The United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (UNDOC) on Monday said that their transport strike successfully paralyzed 95 percent of public transportation in Negros Occidental.
Senior Superintendent Rosendo Franco, Negros Occidental Police Province Office director, said however that only 50 percent of public transportation in the province was crippled on the first day of the strike that started 6 o’clock Monday.
Franco cited that buses of Vallacar Transit and other mini-buses continued to ply their routes despite the strike.
In Bacolod City, police estimated an 80 percent paralysis in public transportation.
Despite the earlier declaration of support of the Association of United Taxi Operators in Negros (AUTON) however there were taxi drivers who continued to operate much to the disappointment of public utility jeepney drivers.
The transport strike, on the other hand, did not affect the delivery of basic services as local governments implemented a car-pool plan to see to it that government employees did not miss reporting for work due to the transport strike. With a report from Yasmin Pascual-Dormido, ABS-CBN Bacolod