27-07-2025
Former Piston president George San Mateo passes away
George San Mateo, former national president of Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston), passed away on Friday, July 25, of a heart attack, the group announced over the weekend. He was 60.
Also known as Ka George, San Mateo led the resistance against the government's public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP) in 2017. He was arrested for leading the two-day nationwide transport strike in December the same year, and was cleared of charges in 2020.
Prior to serving as a transport leader, San Mateo worked as a driver for over a decade, starting as a family driver, then for a car rental company, and eventually as a taxi driver and operator of a second-hand vehicle.
In his youth, San Mateo jointed the Kabataan para sa Demokrasya at Nasyonalismo (Kadena) group during the latter years of the regime of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., serving as its Parañaque City chapter chairman in 1985 and as national spokesperson in 1987. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/RF, GMA Integrated News
