File spoon-archives/aut-op-sy.archive/aut-op-sy_1997/aut-op-sy.9708, message 58


From: "Curtis Price" <cansv-AT-igc.apc.org>
Date:          Sat, 9 Aug 1997 11:05:17 +0000
Subject: AUT: (Fwd) Philippines hit by transport strike against oil prices


------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Fri, 8 Aug 1997 03:19:37 -0700
From:          NewsHound <NewsHound-AT-hound.com>

Reply-to:      NewsHound-AT-hound.com
Subject:       Philippines hit by transport strike against oil prices



NewsHound article from "STRIKES" hound, score "79."



Philippines hit by transport >>strike<< against oil prices

MANILA, Aug. 8 (Kyodo) -- Protesters held a one-day nationwide transport
>>strike<< and rallies Friday to denounce the recent oil price increases
and the July 11 devaluation of the Philippine peso.

In metropolitan Manila, classes at elementary and high schools were
suspended early Friday morning in anticipation of the transport >>strike<<.
Most universities and colleges also suspended classes.

By mid-morning strikers had formed human barricades in major thoroughfares
to block the traffic and dissuade nonstriking drivers from plying their
routes.

At least 2,000 protesters marched toward Malacanang presidential palace in
the afternoon to put forth their demands of an oil price rollback, the
repeal of the government's oil deregulation policy and the increase in
>>workers<<' salaries by 100 pesos (about 3.5 dollars).

The Metro Manila Development Authority said the >>strike<< only affected a
few major routes in the metropolis, while the suspension of classes
combined with the 50 or so government buses and trucks used to ferry
stranded passengers minimized the effects of the >>strike<<.

In the cities of Butuan and Davao on the southern island of Mindanao, at
least 90% of public transportation was crippled, according to police
reports, while in Iligan, 30% of public transport was affected.

Rallies were also held in Naga and Legaspi, in the southern part of Luzon
island, and in Cebu on the central island of Visayas.

''The continuing callousness of President (Fidel) Ramos to the plight of
the Filipino people only proves the government's connivance with oil
monopolies and their subservience to imperialist dictates,'' said Ronel
Abila, secretary general of the Confederation for the Unity and Recognition
and Advancement of Government Employees, a government >>workers<<' union.

The three major oil companies in the Philippines raised oil prices last
week citing the devaluation of the peso on July 11.



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