Transport group in Cebu seeks resolution on fare adjustment

Piston Cebu head Greg Perez speaks during a protest that they conducted last April in front of the LTFRB-7 office. (CDN FILE PHOTO)

A TRANSPORT group is asking the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) to come up with a final resolution on fare adjustment in Cebu.

Greg Perez, coordinator of Pagkakaisa ng Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor (Piston) Cebu, said they don’t want to file a fare adjustment petition but instead would urge the LTFRB-7 to release a resolution on the matter.

“Our group and our counteparts in Manila have not talked about it (filing fare adjustment here in Cebu),” Perez told Cebu Daily News.

To recall, the LTFRB has issued an additional provisional reduction of fares last February for the whole Central Visayas, making the minimum fare of public utility jeepney as P6.50 for the first five kilometers.

Perez said they wanted the previous P7.50 minimum fare implemented back to cushion the effects of oil price increase and to increase the driver’s net take home pay.

“If we would file another petition, then it needs public hearing and publication,” he said in Cebuano.

But Reynaldo Elnar, assistant regional director of LTFRB-7, said in a phone interview that Piston will still file a motion to reinstate the original rate.

“They can’t file another petition because there is a pending probational fare petition,” Elnar said.

Next week, the LTFRB-7 will hold a regional conference in Davao City.

But Elnar was not sure if the fare adjustment would be included in the discussion.

For the meantime, Elnar reminded the drivers to give exact change to the riding public to avoid overcharging.

Under the Joint Administrative Order (JAO) 2014-01, drivers will pay P1,000 and P5,000 for operators for overcharging.