Veteran transport leader George San Mateo has died of a heart attack last July 25, in Baguio City, the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) announced. He was 60.
San Mateo collapsed in his residence on Friday night and was taken to the St. Louis University Hospital where he was declared “dead on arrival” at around 9PM.
A brave and amiable activist, San Mateo served as Piston national president from 2012 to 2019. He succeeded the legendary Piston founding president Medardo Roda as top leader of the country’s militant transport group.
“Ka George was known across the country as a fearless leader and activist fighting for the rights and welfare of jeepney drivers, operators, and working people,” Piston said.
Born and raised in Mandaluyong City, San Mateo was the fourth of five children to parents from Pampanga and Bataan.
As a teenager during the Marcos Sr. dictatorship, San Mateo joined the Kabataan para sa Demokrasya at Nasyonalismo (Kadena) and became its Parañaque chapter chair in 1985 and secretary general and national spokesperson in 1987 to 1991.
Loving son
He attended college at Far Eastern University but left school to work after their family suffered financial difficulties. George took on the task of supporting his ageing parents.
He was first employed as a family driver, then for a car rental company, and eventually as a taxi driver-operator with his own second-hand vehicle.
“These jobs helped him understand the daily struggles of transport workers,” Piston said.
In 1997, while looking for his next fare, he passed by a protest rally in Cubao when recognized by Roda and then Kilusang Mayo Uno chairperson Crispin Beltran. He was then reconnected to activist organizations.
Like Roda and Beltran who both suffered being held up as taxi drivers, San Mateo transferred to driving jeepneys plying the Caloocan-Pasay route after three incidents. He was eventually elected as secretary of the MCU (Manila Central University)-Baclaran drivers’ association in 2000.
He joined Piston’s general secretariat in 2004 as national public information officer after Roda suffered a stroke. He was elected Piston National Capital Region secretary general and appointed national spokesperson in 2005. In 2007, he became the organization’s national secretary general.
As president, San Mateo led high-profile strikes and protests against fuel price hikes during the Aquino administration. In 2017, under the Rodrigo Duterte administration, he spearheaded the resistance against the government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), pushing instead for a just, people-centered public transport policy rather than a profit-driven phaseout of traditional jeepneys.
In December 2017, he was arrested for leading a two-day nationwide transport strike. He was released on bail and eventually cleared of charges three years later in 2020.
READ: Court acquits PISTON leader vs LTFRB charge
“These legal actions underscored the Philippine state’s contentious relationship with transport workers and activists resisting anti-people policies,” Piston said.
“Under his stewardship, Piston became known for militant yet publicly resonant campaigns that challenge both corporate and foreign interests and government inaction on public transport issues,” the group added.
San Mateo has been named as Piston president emeritus in 2019.
He has since lived in Baguio City, again working as a driver. He was known to have enjoyed long motorcycle rides around Luzon.
Tributes
Journalist Kristine Sabillo-Guerrero described San Mateo as one of the kindest persons she knew.
“He treated everyone as a friend. He was easy to talk to and was good at explaining issues that the transport sector faced,” Sabillo-Guerrero wrote on her Facebook page.
“Our meetings were always happy, from attending rallies to those times when I would interview him for my news reports for ABS-CBN,” she added.
Fellow Kadena alumnus and newly-elected International Association of Democratic Lawyers president Edre Olalia said he was shocked to learn of San Mateo’s sudden and unexpected passing.
“I had the privilege to have known and worked with him during his youth and student days. He was always warm, jolly, even loquacious, and yet always advocating issues with eloquent zest,” Olalia said.
Former Kadena international officer and contemporary Paul Galutera also expressed sadness at San Mateo’s death.
“Farewell, George, friend and comrade,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
