At least 25 truck drivers staged a protest at the Anda Circle vicinity on Lopez Boulevard in Manila, causing traffic and inconveniencing commutesr and motorists who ply the route to and from work when they blocked the lanes to honk their horns and express their objection to the increase in toll rates at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX). A report from Manila Police District public information officer Maj. Phillip Ines said that the activity, dubbed as ‘truck caravan,’ began at around 5 a.m. when they converged at Gate 6 of South Habror and was finished at past 8 a.m., following negotiations that took place at around 7:30 a.m., when the police asked them to clear the area for lack of necessary permit and to declog the traffic they had caused from Anda Circle all the way to the Manila North Harbor.
Ines said the MPD headed by Maj. Anthony Olgado of the MDTEU and the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau through its operations chief Wilson Chan, jointly dispatched traffic enforcers to help ensure peace and order as well as help declog the traffic caused by the lightning protest action.
The protesters, led by Central Luzon Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners Organization director Connie Tinio, warned that they will be in the hundreds the next time around to call on the Toll Regulatory Board to stop the implementation of the NLEX toll hike, saying it is just an additional burden for their members as they also alleged the ‘poor service’ of the operator of NLEX. It will be called that last June 15, additional fees were imposed by NLEx, ranging from P7 to P98.
