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Transport groups in Iloilo, Capiz and Aklan will hold a two-day transport strike on Wednesday and Thursday (Dec. 12 and 13) to protest the continued increase of oil prices.

Public jeepneys, tricycles and and small bus lines will stop plying their routes at midnight on Wednesday, said Edgar Salarda, secretary of the Iloilo City Alliance of Drivers Associations (Icada), the umbrella of around 18 associations of jeepney operators and drivers in the city and neighboring towns.

Salarda, also chair of the Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston-Iloilo), said similar transport strikes will be held in Aklan on Wednesday and Thursday and in Capiz on Thursday.

He said the income of drivers and operators have significantly dropped because of at least seven rounds of oil price increases since January this year amounting to P7.50 per liter.

This translates to a reduction in the daily income of drivers by P150 or P2,500 per month since they ply their routes by an average of 20 days per month, said Salarda.

The transport groups in Iloilo are also protesting the traffic rerouting experiment of the city government. They are calling for the traffic regulation on private vehicles and a stop the issuance of new franchises for public jeepneys.