Bacolod City’s jeepney drivers and small operators trooped to the Bacolod City Government Center and held a surprise and silent rally on August 28. Undoc-Piston, Kabacod Negros Transport Organization (Knetco), and BACOD-Manibela together went to the municipality to confront the city mayor regarding the jeepney phaseout.

The groups swiftly entered the hall to demand that Mayor Albee Benitez face them. They have long been asking the mayor for a dialogue to discuss the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) but he has been avoiding them. The LPTRP is part of the Marcos regime’s bogus modernization.

The groups said the city’s LPTRP should be scrapped because it favors 11 corporations that operate “modern” jeepneys in Bacolod City. They said this negatively impacted the livelihood of traditional jeepneys and small operators.

Since the mayor was not in the building, the groups demanded that they be heard at the regular session of the Sanggunian Panglungsod where they presented their grievances and appeals.

They demanded a return to their five-year individual franchise so they can earn a living. UNDOC Piston secretary general Eric Bindoy denounced the ₱3 billion budget allocated by the Marcos regime for the Department of Transportation’s anti-poor Public Transport Modernization Program for 2025.