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Sunday, September 18, 2005
Ferry operators urged: Help commuters survive fuel prices
Secretary Leandro Mendoza of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) yesterday asked ferry operators to help cushion the impact of fuel price increases.
By doing so, the operators can work side by side with the government in helping solve the problem, considering that most modes of transportation and 58 percent of the ferry operating industry depend on fuel, Mendoza said.
In response, the Visayan Association of Ferryboat and Coastwise Service Operators (VAFCSO) and United Trampers Association of the Philippines Inc. (Utap) are coming up with a draft memorandum of agreement (MOA) to level the quality of services and fares like the Cebu-Ormoc route.
Mendoza said he raised with Luzon shippers the MOA, which he believes could be a start of a more coordinated, complementary and cooperative transport industry.
Pledge
The shipping operators pledged to support Arroyo. But they also want the government to help them in eradicating unfair competition allegedly tolerated by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).
VAFCSO president Jeffrey Solon said the draft MOA to be signed by operators plying the Cebu-Ormoc route is good for the existing players.
But they fear that the Marina will allow the entry of new firms in the same route at almost the same time schedules.
“We want an assurance that this will not happen,” Solon said.
But Marina Administrator Vicente Suazo said Republic Act 9295 deregulated shipping and they are bound to grant the application of new investors to ply in the same route already developed by existing operators.
Mendoza said he will research on the law because while they don’t want to violate it, unfair competition should be discouraged.
Meanwhile, Mendoza ordered Marina to study further the creation of an insurance consortium to handle the insurance coverage of shipping operators. He said Marina should avoid fueling public doubts that somebody wants to monopolize the insurance business.(EOB)
(September 18, 2005 issue)
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