NEWSFLASH

Manila, Aug. 3, 2000 - The Light Rail Transit (LRT) commuter railway in Metro Manila resumed operations yesterday after being paralyzed for a week by a wildcat strike.

About 500 policemen were deployed in the LRT's 13 terminals and trains running through the 15-kilometer line to thwart saboteurs. There were no untoward incidents, Metro Manila police commander Chief Superintendent Edgar Aglipay said. LRT security men will take over from the police once the situation normalizes, Aglipay said.

About 140 striking workers belonging to the Pinag-isang Lakas ng Manggagawa sa Metro union picketed the LRT's Gate 1 on Tramo Avenue and Gate 2 on Domestic Road, both in Pasay City.

Aglipay said they let the strikers air their grievances after warning them that his men would disperse them if they harassed passengers or disrupted operations.

Because of the strike, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) did not to renew its contract with Metro Transit Organization Inc., the company operating the line, when it expired on July 31.

"We hope to start the bidding for the operations of the LRT in three months. We need to strengthen its manpower so that the LRT can resume regular runs," Transportation Secretary Vicente Rivera told a forum at the nearby Ristorante La Dolce Fontana in Greenhills.

Security was also tightened at the DOTC office in Mandaluyong City after a received a telephone call from a man, claiming there was a bomb in the building's elevator.