00:00 The group of truckers may seem a weak and fragmented force, but on the road with her 18 wheel rigs in tow,
00:06 they can take over a road in a jiffy and totally shut down traffic.
00:10 Exactly what a group of truckers from the NCR, Northern and Central Luzon did when they gathered
00:15 at the expressway from Road 10 and put traffic at a standstill, as our Karen Villanda reports.
00:28 Group of truckers from Metro Manila, Central Luzon and North Luzon
00:32 mounted a caravan protest at the Anda Circle in Manila to air their sentiments
00:37 against the increase of toll fees at the North Luzon Expressway.
00:40 The protesters started from Anda Circle where 200 trucks gathered at around 6 in the morning,
00:56 causing a heavy buildup of traffic. They insist that the president wants to reduce logistics costs,
01:02 but NLOC continues to increase the toll.
01:04 The protest we did earlier is just a prelude to a bigger movement.
01:10 We will continue to do more protests until we can meet our demands.
01:17 We will just have to make it happen because the truckers are just waking up from the pandemic.
01:21 We will ask them for discounts during the pandemic. We will live with them.
01:29 The group barred no decision as of now if their action protest includes the blocking of NLEX exit
01:35 soon. An NLEX official asked the group of truckers to do a silent protest and stand
01:40 sold as not to disturb other motorists in the expressway.
01:44 Everyone has the right to exit the expressway. But according to the law,
01:49 we have the right process to give our opinion especially on our toll adjustment.
02:00 In this case, our law requires a formal petition.
02:08 The same advice was given by the Toll Regulatory Board to the protesters.
02:12 The truckers' letter to the board has already been answered and they were advised to file a
02:16 petition for review so that it can go through the legal process. However, according to TRB,
02:22 they have also filed an urgent request to NLEX to consider suspending the recent P98 increase
02:29 in the toll of Class 3 vehicles, particularly for trucks carrying agri-products such as
02:35 vegetables. This came after their meeting with the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market
02:41 Outlook.
02:42 And
03:11 NLEX assured that they will consider the request.
03:14 We have an upcoming meeting on this. Of course, you can discuss that.
03:19 We are looking at the points in this proposal.
03:26 The TRB has given NLEX 15 days to respond to their urgent request.
03:31 Karen Villanda for the nation.
