Baguio: Two leading public utility vehicle (PUV) federation groups in Baguio have announced their decision to abstain from participating in the upcoming transport strike organized by PISTON, emphasizing that such actions would primarily inconvenience commuters.

According to Philippines News Agency, Rey Bacoco, the president of the Baguio PUV Transport Corp., highlighted in an interview on Wednesday that the majority of Baguio operators, encompassing both utility vehicles (UV) and public utility jeepneys (PUJ), traditionally refrain from engaging in transport strikes, whether organized locally or on a national level. Bacoco explained that the primary concern is the adverse impact on commuters, who bear the brunt of service disruptions.

The Baguio PUV Transport Corp. consists of eight inter-regional transport routes connecting Baguio to Pangasinan and various municipalities in Benguet. The group includes 120 jeepney and 87 taxi operators and drivers under its umbrella, managing a fleet of 500 to 600 utility vehicles. While acknowledging that some operators have participated in past strikes, Bacoco noted that the majority do not engage in such actions.

Wilson Bumay-et, the president of the Baguio Benguet jeepney federation, echoed Bacoco's stance, confirming that their federation, which represents at least 90 percent of jeepney routes in Baguio and Benguet, will also abstain from the strike.

Bacoco further mentioned that their association has completed the submission of necessary documents for approximately 207 drivers eligible to receive the government's PHP5,000 fuel subsidy. In related developments, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has instructed the Department of Transportation to delay the implementation of approved fare increases for public utility vehicles, initially scheduled to take effect on Thursday.