ALTHOUGH he agreed that an increase in taxi fare if approved will burden the passengers and benefit the operators and drivers, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) chief Ahmed Cuizon will leave the decision to the national officials.
“I will therefore yield to the wisdom of our national officials since they are the ones who have jurisdiction over this taxi fare increase petition,” said Cuizon when sought for comment on the LTFRB’s plan to explore increasing taxi fare to make the taxis more competitive against transport network companies like Uber and Grab, which implement fare surges.
“It’s been some time since taxi groups filed a petition for fare increase nationwide and this has been pending at our Central Office in Manila,” said Cuizon.
The petition was filed by the Philippine National Taxi Operators’ Association (PNTOA) of which the Metro Cebu Taxi Operators’ Association (MCTOA) is a member, Cuizon added.
If the request will be granted by the LTFRB, the flag-down rate will still be P40, while the running fare will be added by P2, from P3.50 it will become P5.50 for every 300 meters and per waiting time on passengers.