NO PERFECT TEN. The fare hike petition of operators and drivers of public utility jeepneys is expected to be challenged in the June 24 LTFRB hearing.
(CDN FILE PHOTO)
A P2.50 increase in the minimum fare for jeepneys is just “too high”.
The business community and the riding public share a common sentiment against the petition of the Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative Inc (Citrasco) seeking a fare adjustment from P7.50 to P10.
The regional office of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board will conduct a public hearing on the fare hike petition on June 24 in Cebu City.
Business leaders in Cebu yesterday expressed their opposition to the petition with one of them saying that the quality of service that jeepney operators offer to the riding public does not merit an increase.
Ma. Teresa Chan, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that considering the cost components to operate a public utility vehicle like fuel, spare parts, and the vehicles remained almost the same or only increased by about 5 percent from the last increase, and since inflation rate hovered around the same rate, the proposed fare increase is unconscionable.
“That’s 36 percent increase per one way. At 10 trips, that’s already 360 percent when other costs like depreciation and (spare) parts are constant,” she said.
“Maybe, P.50 increase, if there has to be, is reasonable . That’s more than 0.05 percent which is only P.375,” Chan added.
Prudencio Gesta, part president of the CCCI, shared the same opinion, saying the LTFRB should balance the net effect of the increase.
“I think the P2.50 fare increase petitioned by Cebu PUJ transport group is considered high to bear for the biggest group of riding public particularly the ordinary or lower paid wage earners or students. Any increase should be calibrated enough to improve the net take home of the PUJ drivers but not a big burden to riding public,” he said Gesta.
Cebu Business Club president Gordon Alan Joseph said he finds the fare hike petition “unreasonable.”
“I really think it’s time to rethink the role of jeepneys and how they are managed. They are inefficient and unsafe and uncomfortable for passengers. And they are poorly managed and regulated. Operators should start upgrading their services and their discipline before they ask for any fare hikes,” he said.
He said that discipline and adherence to the law should also be strictly required beacuse there are too many jeepneys and many of them are colorum.
“They aggravate traffic all throughout the city by their driving habits.”
Mary Claire Chrisner Catado, a sophomore mass communications student who commutes from Minglanilla town to her university in Cebu City, said she will have to tighten her belt.
“If ang minimum fare musaka, tapos three rides pa akong sakyan, mas maglisod samot akong budget,” she said. (My budget would be greatly affected should there be a fare increase as it takes me three rides to go to school.)
She said a fare increase is understandable, but P10 is just too much since there are times passengers can’t sit comfortably in overloaded PUJs.
Rene de Los Reyes, 27, a jeepney driver who plies the Liloan-North Bus Terminal route said a P10 fare is needed to cope with higher prices of commodities like rice and fuel.
“Dili mi ma-dato, igo ra makakaon kay mahal ang mga palaliton.” (We won’t get rich with that. It’s just enough for our subsistence.)
Arcadio Gotib, 46, a jeepney driver for almost 20 years, said a P10 minimum fare petition was a tad too high.
“Bisag P9 ra nga increase okay na jud na kaayo, wala pud bitaw ga-increase ang gasolina” he said. (I’m fine with just a nine-peso increase as gas prices have remained stable.)
Domino effect
Negros Oriental Rep. Manuel Iway, a former LTFRB board member, questioned the rationale behind the approval of the 50-centavo increase in jeepney fares in the National Capital Region.
Iway said jeepney operators in the Visayas and Mindanao actually faced higher expenditures for fuel and spare parts, but were not that keen on demanding a fare increase.
It was only after the LTFRB granted the increase in the NCR and neighboring Regions 3 and 4 that operators from other parts of the country told him they would consider asking for an adjustment as well.
“This might create a domino effect,” Iway warned.
He said diesel prices in the Visayas and Mindanao are P5 higher than in Metro Manila, while spare parts for vehicles are also 15 to 20 percent more expensive in those two areas./ With reports by interns Gerriane Faith B. Rizon, Angeli Marie R. Sarmiento, and DM Lorena V. Narciso