Thursday, November 08, 2007 P1 fare hike sought By Jerome S. Galunan Jr.
THE United Drivers and Operators Center-Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Natiowide (UNDOC-Piston) on Tuesday demanded for a nationwide and unified fare increase to the existing fare matrix of every regional and inter-regional route due to the unstoppable oil price increase and the rising costs of the basic commodities.
The petition filed by Piston before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Quezon City asked for an additional of P1.00 for the first four kilometers and an additional P0.25 for every succeeding kilometer nationwide.
However, UNDOC-Piston chairman Rommel "Bebot" Santillan disclosed on Tuesday that they will be implementing the P1.00 fare hike for the first four kilometers in Bacolod City and for the first five kilometers outside of Bacolod.
Santillan further said that they were not supposed to raise fare due to the financial hardship of the Negrenses, however, they do not have any choice because of the unreasonable weekly increases in price of diesel.
The transport sector is also blaming the series of oil price hikes to oil companies.
Meanwhile, UNDOC-Piston will lobby to the Negrense lawmakers to file a resolution to repeal the oil deregulation law.
"It's been a long time that we are calling for the repeal of the law but its seemed that the government is not listening to us. They said that the state is also reaping huge taxes in every oil hike," Santillan said.
Amidst the pending petition for the new fare hike, the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Labor Center in Negros also expressed support to the transport sector for a fare hike.
KMU-Negros spokesperson Ronald Ian Evidente said that the transport sector demanded this fare hike because President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has not done anything to stop oil price hikes.
Meanwhile, KMU also recalled for a legislated wage hike of P125 daily increase for private workers and P 3,000 monthly increase for government workers.
The groups also expressed intention to launch protest actions in the coming weeks to show their continuous opposition on the fuel price increase.
