KARAPATAN assailed the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for threatening to impose punishment on jeepney drivers planning to join a nationwide transport strike on September 29-30, 2026. The LTFRB said that the penalties would range from a P5,000-fine to the cancellation of their franchises.
The strike to be spearheaded by PISTON and joined by other transport groups will renew demands for the removal of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) and the excise tax on oil products as well as a fare hike. Jeepney drivers in Metro Manila have reportedly been earning only P200 to P300 per day since gasoline and diesel prices spiralled to more than P100 per liter beginning March 2026. “That means that jeepney drivers have been earning amounts that are even below the starvation wages imposed on workers in this region,” decried KARAPATAN deputy secretary general Atty. Maria Sol Taule.
“The government’s answer has been fuel subsidies that last only a few days and do not benefit all drivers,” said Taule. “The abolition of taxes on oil should be a more lasting solution, but successive governments, including the current Marcos Jr. regime, have refused this option because they have been raking in hundreds of billions of pesos in revenue from these taxes.
The VAT is especially notorious, she said, since the more oil prices go up, the more the government siphons in as taxes. “And yet this government which has been living off the people’s misery has the gall to threaten protesting drivers who have been bearing the brunt of the upwardly spiralling prices of oil,” said Taule.
“The right to protest is not a privilege that the government may grant or withdraw at will. It is a fundamental exercise of freedom of expression and the people’s right to collectively air their grievances and demand accountability from those in power. Drivers should not be threatened with fines, franchise cancellations, or other reprisals simply for exercising their constitutional right to protest,” Taule ended.
KARAPATAN urges the Filipino people to stand in solidarity with the protesting drivers as they assert their right to speak out against policies that threaten their livelihood and demand meaningful economic relief amid the current crisis.