Sunday, May 04, 2008 One more round of fuel price hike would be too much for jeep, bus drivers: Yu
TRANSPORT leaders in Cebu will pressure the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to immediately grant a minimum fare increase from P6 to P7.50 because of successive fuel price hikes.
Ryan Yu, general manager of the Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative, said drivers will not survive without another round of fare hike.
Yu said that just recently, LTFRB Chairman Thompson Lantion said jeepney and bus drivers will be offered P2 per liter fuel subsidy and rice subsidy instead of increasing the fares.
After a month
But Yu said that when they talked with Finance Secretary Margarito Teves a few days ago, it was learned that the P2 subsidy will only be implemented more than a month from now after a thorough study.
During the Labor Day celebration last May 1, they tried to join the scheduled dialogue with President Arroyo at the World Trade Center in Manila but that did not push through.
“We want the President to intervene because the situation is becoming worse. Families of the drivers are really affected by very low income,” Yu said, adding that the drivers can hardly send their children to school in June.
Meanwhile, the Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association (MCTOA) yesterday said they will file a petition to raise taxi fares once the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) reaches the P35 per liter mark.
No longer economical
MCTOA chairman Richard Cabucos said that at present, the price of LPG is at P34 per liter. LPG is supposed to be economical.
Cabucos said that their counterparts in Manila have already filed a petition to raise the taxi flagdown rate from P30 to P40.
Julie Flores, president of the Cebu South Mini-Bus Operators Association, said that due to the successive oil price increases, he urged LTFRB and the Land
Transportation Office to stop bus companies that are illegally operating several units, which compete with them.
Flores said gasoline is now P43 per liter and the drivers and operators can hardly survive if another round of prices increases will be imposed by multi-national oil companies.
Flores also urged the riding public to pay the correct fare because oil prices are aggravated by the skyrocketing prices of spare parts, lubricants and tires.
The official bus fare rate is P8.50 for the first five kilometers and P1.30 per succeeding kilometer, but bus operators and drivers do not implement this because of heavy competition in their routes. (EOB)
