Fare hike petitions hearings to be decentralized to regions

The Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is doing away with holding fare hike consultation hearings in Manila.

LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez announced in yesterday’s Transport Summit that fare hike petition process will instead be held in the regions.

“We will issue an order from Central Office to delegate the hearing of the petition that will be administered by the regional director,” Ginez said.

The pending P2.50 fare hike petition of transport groups will be heard in the first regional consultations, Ginez said.

The results of the consultations however will still be submitted to the LTFRB boardmembers who will review and decide on the petitions en banc. “Rest assured that your petition will be decided on the basis of what is being presented here.

The pecularities and the current situation will hopefully be very well ventilated,” Ginez added.

Ryan Yu, president of Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative Incorporated (Citrasco) said this move is long overdue.

“I think that the Cebu and other provinces have different needs compared to Metro Manila. Most of the fare adjustments are only presented in Manila,” Yu said.

Citrasco, the biggest transport group in Central Visayas has petitioned to increase the jeepney fare in Central Visayas by P2.50 last March 3 this year.

Yu said before that the reason of the petition is the increasing prices of spare parts.
If the petition will be approved, then the minimunm fare for a five-kilometer jeepney ride in the region will be P10 instead of the current P7.50.