Transport group leaders have filed a petition seeking a P10 minimum fare for public utility jeepneys.
Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines president Zeny Maranan said they have asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to bring back the minimum jeepney fare to P10 due to looming ol price increases.
The current minimum fare for PUJs in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Mimaropa was set at P9 following a provisional fare rollback in 2018. According to LTFRB, the rollback was implemented due to the decreasing world diesel prices.
FEJODAP, along with transport groups Pasang Masda, Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations, Land Transportation Organization of the Philippines, and Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines Inc., filed the petition with the LTFRB last Friday.
According to Maranan, they are expecting fuel prices to spike at P50 per liter due to US-Iran tensions in the Middle East.
Following the call of the groups for a PUJ fare adjustment, LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III immediately met transport leaders to discuss their proposal.
During the meeting, Delgra and LTFRB Technical Division chief Joel Bolano discussed the formula which the fare matrix used by public utility vehicles was derived from.
Under Memorandum Circular No. 2019-035, the formulation of the basic fare is based on oil prices which should be provided by the Department of Energy.
While transport groups are insisting that taxes should be included in the computation, the agency assured that it took into consideration a “myriad of well grounded factors” in formulating the fare adjustments.
“The agency is on top of this. Of course, alam nating nakasalalay ang kabuhayan ng ating mga draybers at operators sa araw-araw nilang biyahe,” the LTFRB chief said.
“Pero dapat maintindihan din ng nakararami na kailangan muna itong sumailalim sa mabusising pagaaral mula sa datos na mayroon tayo bago magpatupad ng kahit anong pagbabago. Ang fare adjustment ay hindi basta-basta lamang,” he added. (Alexandria San Juan)
