Transport groups Manibela and Piston will lead a jeepney strike on Monday, stretching past the Christmas holiday rush to protest the government's Dec. 31 deadline to consolidate franchises under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PVUMP).

“We are sorry,” Manibela told commuters in a Facebook pt.

“There will be a two-week strike that will burden some of the commuters in the middle of the Christmas season rush hours when there will be heavy traffic. People will really be late for school and work. No travel because of the jeepney strike. Tomorrow it will start,” it added.

Manibela President Mar Valbuena told dzBB transport groups ACTO and Fejodap are among those organizations committed to joining the strike.

“Eighty-five percent of ACTO and 65 percent of Fejodap, as well as other transport groups, will join Manibela’s strike,” he said.

Despite the series of transport strikes held this month, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said there will be no extension of the deadline for the franchise consolidation of PUVs into cooperatives or corporations.

Valbuena said most of their operators and drivers will be staging a protest at Monumento Circle, while other routes of Manibela in the country will have their own strike centers.

“Tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning the biggest bulk of our group will go to Monumento Circle. All of those from Camanava (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela) will meet there, that’s where we will stage our protest,” Valbuena said.

“All of the routes of Manibela will have a strike center in the whole Philippines, especially in NCR (National Capital Region), Region 3, Region 4 Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Visayas, and Region 1,” he added.

“We hope that before this week ends, the President will listen to our concerns,” he said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS