Higher transport fares demanded
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Riza T. Olchondra from Philippine Daily Inquirer Wrote:MANILA, Philippines—Although the new round of fare increases has yet to take effect, transport groups said Wednesday the fare hike was not enough and want more fare adjustments but Malacañang quickly thumbed down their demand.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Wednesday that the approved 50-centavo increase in the minimum fare for passenger jeepneys was enough for the meantime.
The Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston) said it would file another petition for a nationwide fare increase of P1.50.
“While we welcome the approval of our previous petition ... this is not enough because diesel was only P36 per liter when we filed our petition on Oct. 26, 2007,” Piston spokesperson George San Mateo said in a text message.
He said diesel, which already costs P54.48 a liter, may go up by P10 per liter this weekend based on pronouncements made by oil companies and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes.
Homer Mercado, president of the Provincial Bus Operators of the Philippines (PBOAP), said bus groups would also “most likely” ask for an additional P1.50 increase in the minimum fare if the price of diesel rose by P10 a liter.
“If it (rise in diesel price) goes beyond P10, we will be forced to ask for another increase,” said Bong Suntay, president of the Philippine National Taxi Operators Association (PNTOA).
The energy secretary favors a one-time increase in the price of fuel even if it means a staggering adjustment of P6 to P10 a liter. The Consumer and Oil Price Watch estimates that oil firms have yet to recoup losses of P16 a liter from diesel, the fuel used by public utility vehicles.
“It is clear that the present fare hike will not be enough,” San Mateo said.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced on Tuesday that jeepneys may charge a minimum fare of P8.50, up 50 centavos, and an additional 25 centavos, or from P1.25 to P1.50, for each succeeding kilometer starting Friday. But the jeepney drivers need to post the fare matrix on the vehicles.
Metro Manila buses may charge an additional P1, or from P9 to P10, for the first five kilometers, with an additional 20 centavos for every succeeding kilometer (P1.75 to P1.95). Air-conditioned buses may charge P12 from P11.50 plus P2.35 per succeeding kilometer from P1.75.
Taxis may also start collecting an “add-on” rate of P10 on top of the meter charge instead of increasing the flag-down rate.
Second hike in 2 months
The increases were the second in less than two months.
On May 21, the minimum fare for jeepneys was raised by 50 centavos to P7.50, for ordinary buses in Metro Manila by P1 to P9 and for air-conditioned buses by P1.50 to P11.50.
For provincial routes, ordinary buses were allowed an increase in the minimum fare by 10 centavos per kilometer, while air-conditioned buses were allowed to charge 25 centavos more per kilometer.
San Mateo said the total minimum fare increase of P1 for jeepneys since May 21 would not even result in an additional income of P100 a day for drivers and operators. In contrast, he said, the 18 times that diesel prices went up since January [up by 42 percent] had cost drivers losses of P570 a day.
If the price of diesel increased by P10 a liter this weekend, it would result in an additional loss of P300 for drivers, according to the Piston spokesperson. San Mateo said a driver would suffer “a deficit of P870, which will be going to the oil companies.”
Transport needs gov’t help
Suntay earlier explained that the transport sector wanted to maintain its fares so as not to drive passengers away. But to do this, the sector would need help from the government.
He said the government may help by delivering on its promised fuel subsidies, access to safer and cheaper alternative fuels, and curbs on extortion and unlicensed public utility vehicles.
“We see no end to fuel price increases so far. We are running out of options for coping,” Suntay said.
Low-income taking from low-income
Some commuters, like Grace Ramos, said they were resigned to the idea that transport fares would go up again as a result of continuing fuel price increases.
Others, like Janet Rañola, an employee who commutes from Taytay, Rizal, to the Ortigas business district in Mandaluyong City every day, expressed frustration that measures to help wage earners cope with the situation were not being implemented.
“A higher fare is OK if there’s a substantial wage increase,” Rañola said.
She said high-income earners were not taking public transport unlike the minimum-wage earners. “So low-income drivers are taking their extra income from other low-income earners. And why is the value-added tax on oil not scrapped instead?” she said.
San Mateo said the passengers’ capacity to pay higher fares was also a serious concern for drivers, which was why his group was supporting labor groups’ call for an across-the-board wage hike of P125 per day nationwide.
“It is important for government to help workers improve their income so that they can cope with higher prices of goods and services. We are supporting this especially because minimum wage earners comprise the majority of our passengers,” he said.
VAT on oil
Besides backing a wage increase, Piston is continuing its campaign to get the VAT on oil and the Oil Deregulation Law scrapped.
San Mateo said these steps could result in a rollback of P6.53 a liter for diesel, P7.35 for gasoline and P90 per 11-kg tank of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The reductions, he said, would help the transport sector cope with surging costs without the need for a fare hike.
Double post
Eight New Natural Wonders Named
"Numbers are not part of the real world; they're part of something else."
-Prof. Rolly Panopio, UPLB Math Division
-Prof. Rolly Panopio, UPLB Math Division
