17/05/2026
๐๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ | ๐๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ-๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐บ๐ฝ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐: ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐๐ถ๐ผ-๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐โ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ
โHabang hinahati ka, kailangan mong magbuo.โ
The statement echoed inside the University of the Cordilleras Theater as drivers, transport organizers, researchers, students, faculty gathered on May 15 for the Baguio-Benguet Commutersโ Forum 2026.
For the past months, we have seen a surge in oil prices in light of the U.S-Israel War on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This has resulted in an almost โฑ200 peso mark on pump prices, with some stations placing as high as โฑ170 in Baguio City. As we can recall, there were numerous instances in the City where entire jeepney lines closed for days, with the local transport supply plummeting and leading to hours-long commuter lines in staging areas. This has resulted in a grave loss of income for many Jeepney drivers and operators, some of them shifting to alternative sources such as farming, mining, even construction work as the oil crisis punches holes in their pockets.
As the crisis continues to storm the country, UC Political Science Society in collaboration with PARA Commutersโ Network, organized a forum centered on the issue of the present Oil Crisis and the PUV Modernization Program, stirring local discourse on the broader struggle of Filipinos amidst the catastrophe. Students and faculty members from across Baguio and Benguet heeded as speakers examined how transportation issues are deeply tied to broader questions of governance, development, and even national sovereignty.
One of the keynote speakers, Arnold Padilla, spokesperson of the International League of Peopleโs Struggles - Philippines, said the worsening oil crisis is deeply tied to the countryโs long-standing dependence on foreign-controlled energy systems. He asserted that the Philippines cannot sustain genuine industrialization all while remaining reliant on imported oil and foreign capital.
โWe have a lot of energy resources available locally pero wala kasing reliable program to develop them,โ Padilla explained, faulting development frameworks that continue to depend heavily on private and foreign interests. He pointed to the Malampaya project as an example of how energy programs remain shaped by outside capital rather than the countryโs own national interests.
Padilla stressed that energy should not be treated merely as a business venture measured by profitability. โHindi dapat tubo ang metric niyan kasi energy nga eh,โ he said. โGamit yan ng mga industriya, gamit yan ng mga kabahayan.โ Instead, he argued that accessibility and affordability for the people and the broader economy should become the central basis for energy development, including the expansion of renewable energy sources.
While discussions on oil and energy framed the forum on a national level, speakers repeatedly returned to the concrete realities faced daily by ordinary Filipinos. Domar Cabute of the Baguio Commutersโ Network stated in an interview after the forum that transportation issues extend far beyond drivers and operators alone.
โHindi lang ito isyu ng mga tsuper,โ โIsyu ito ng sambayanang Pilipino.โ
He described how rising fuel prices and unstable transportation systems affect not only jeepney drivers but also their families, children, and communities already burdened by increasing living costs. For Cabute, meaningful democratic participation cannot be confined to elections every few years. Instead, solidarity must be practiced directly within communities through grassroots organizing and collective action.
โWe shouldnโt limit ourselves as academics inside our classrooms,โ referring to students attending the forum. He encouraged young people to immerse and integrate themselves in communities and engage directly with workers, commuters, and marginalized sectors in order to fully understand the socioeconomic and political realities they study in theory. In the latter part of his speech, he tributed the โToboso 19โ and called for justice after the brutal deaths of community workers and peasant organizers in Toboso, Negros Occidental. โThese young people could be us,โ โthey could be anyone, any activist sitting in this hall right nowโ he stated.
Domar Cabute, as a Negrosanon from Bacolod City, said that their deaths were โdeeply personalโ and that the work of the slain activists is something that the youth should continue as โactive agents of change.โ
The issue of solidarity became one of the strongest recurring themes throughout the forum.
In an interview, Nanoy Rafael, a transport sector organizer from the National Capital Region and convener of PARA Commutersโ Network, argued that government policies surrounding public transportation have systematically fragmented relationships among drivers, operators, and commuters. According to him, programs such as forced consolidation under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program weakened long-standing alliances within the transport sector.
โWatak-watak ngayon โyung industriya,โ Rafael explained.
He described how commuters and drivers are often positioned against each other during fare hike debates, with the government presenting itself as defending commuters while ignoring the structural conditions that force drivers to demand higher fares in the first place.
โKasalanan naman nila kung bakit kailangan mataas โyung pamasahe,โ he remarked.
For Rafael, solidarity does not emerge naturally under conditions designed to divide people. โHindi spontaneously mabubuo,โ he said. โHabang hinahati ka, kailangan mong magbuo.โ
Beyond critique, the forum also explored what equitable and sustainable urban development could look like.
Matyline Camfili, a Bontok Igorot researcher and extensionist at Benguet State University, foregrounded the importance of grounding transportation and urban policies on the actual carrying capacity of Baguio City and Benguet. She criticized โband-aid solutionsโ which fail to address deeper structural problems faced by vulnerable sectors. In her speech, she also emphasized that Cordilleran drivers are among the most opposed to the PUV Modernization Program, as jeepneys in the Cordilleras are not just used as public transportation, but also as freight vehicles for local farmers and traders, emphasizing that โmodern jeepneysโ are not as flexible as traditional ones and cannot cope with the local demands.
Camfili stated that meaningful consultation with stakeholders is necessary in crafting development frameworks. According to her, communities themselves possess valuable experiences and knowledge that can enrich public planning and policy-making processes.
Similarly, researcher and University of the Cordilleras Political Science alumna Camille Tanagras stressed that genuinely equitable modernization programs must prioritize the welfare of both transport workers and commuters. She pointed to concerns surrounding job security, transportation accessibility and proper consultation processes.
But for Tanagras, the issue ultimately goes beyond technical policy adjustments.
โTo know that an institution truly cares for its people ay kapag hindi ito nababahiran ng pamumulitika, negosyo, at bulok na sistema,โ she said.
As the forum concluded, the discussions left behind more than policy debates or academic reflections. Beneath conversations on oil prices, modernization programs, and transportation systems was a deeper recognition of how interconnected these crises have become in the lives of ordinary Filipinos.
The transport crisis, as the dayโs speakers and researchers argued, cannot be reduced to rising fares or the replacement of old jeepneys alone. Behind every policy are workers and families struggling to survive, commuters enduring daily hardships, and communities navigating systems shaped by inequality and big profit-driven motivations.
And amid what many described as worsening crises, one message remained constant throughout the forum: solidarity cannot remain passive. It must be consciously and actively built.
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๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐: Niko Biazon
๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐: Kastlerdale Mabutas
๐ฃ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐: Cyra Mabini
