Monday, November 06, 2006
Taxi operators to block proposal to lower fares
THE Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association (MCTOA) challenged Cebu City Councilor Arsenio Pacaña to operate a public utility vehicle so he will know “the real situation” of the transport industry.
MCTOA president Richard Cabucos said it is unfair for Pacaña to propose to reduce fares just because he received reports that taxi drivers or operators have increased their income by using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
“If our government officials are really for the best interest of their constituents, they should not only look at the side of the commuters but also the drivers,” Cabucos said.
Cabucos said that when the flagdown rate for taxis was adjusted in 2004 from P25 to P30, the price of gasoline per liter was P26. Now it’s P40.96.
“No city councilor, no city government and no national government offered a solution to increase the drivers’ income because of the fuel price increases. We shifted to LPG on our own, in order to survive,” Cabucos said.
Cabucos said using LPG is not as easy as Pacaña thinks because they had to spend P28,000 to convert each taxi unit, from being gasoline-fed to LPG-fed.
He said taxi operators who cannot afford this have been forced to reduce rentals to as low as P300 per day.
The present rates are P450, P550, P650, P800 depending on the condition of the unit and up to P1,000 if the vehicle is new.
In Manila, the rental for a taxi unit is P1,500 and above per day.
Cabucos said Pacaña did not even bother to look at the steadily increasing prices of spare parts and tires.
Cabucos, however, said MCTOA is open to a dialogue with the Cebu City Council.
He said that on Nov. 16, 2005, when the fuel prices again rose, they filed a petition with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board asking for an increase in the flagdown rate by P15.
But when they found out that their operational cost reduced with the use of LPG, they withdrew the petition last April.
Rising prices, along with increasingly more sophisticated safety measures, have encouraged taxi operators to shift from gasoline or diesel to LPG, whose prices are much lower. (EOB)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (November 6, 2006 issue)
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