The two-day transport strike to protest higher fuel prices in Negros Occidental that began yesterday crippled public transportation but failed to fully paralyze it.

Business activity in Bacolod City also slowed down with less customers and manpower.

News of complaints over consumers in Negros Occidental’s having to pay P4 to 5 more per liter for  fuel sold by the big oil players  compared to Metro Manila  has also encouraged a smaller player to do business in Bacolod,  Frank Carbon, president of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.

A protesting driver was apprehended by Station 4 policemen for allegedly placing twisted nails, locally known as “tumba-tumba”, at the junction of Burgos and Lopez Jaena streets in Bacolod City during the kick-off of the two-day strike.

Bacolod City Police Office Director Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz identified the person arrested as Antonio Antibo, 60, of Brgy. Minoyan in Murcia town, Negros Occidental.

De la Paz said Antibo was apprehended by Police Officer 2 Felipe Moncatar when he was seen placing twisted nails under the rear tire of the RAG lines jeepney driven by Jujie Boy Ulgasan, 33, of Brgy. Bata, Bacolod, who continued plying their route.

The National Federation of Sugarcane Planters yesterday reiterated its call for the Sugar Regulatory Administration to conduct a speedy and in-depth investigation into the millions of pesos worth of fake quedans recently discovered.

NFSP president Enrique Rojas in a letter to SRA chief Ma. Regina Martin, said “All persons found to be involved in this large-scale estafa should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Only through immediate investigation and prosecution of the guilty parties can the sanctity and integrity of the sugar quedans be restored.”

Rojas said he was referring to the recent discovery of more than 300,000 Lkg-bags of fake “D” or world market sugar quedan-permits and more than 200,000 Lkg-bags of fake “B” or domestic market sugar quedan-permits.