Thursday, July 10, 2008 Minimum PUJ fare: P8 or P8.50?
REGIONAL directors of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss the amount of fare increase they will implement in their jurisdictions.
That as Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) 7 Director Elias Cayanong said the wage board will meet to study the need for a review of the current wage levels, with the successive increases in the prices of fuel and other commodities.
Cayanong also said labor groups can now submit petitions for a salary increase.
LTFRB Executive Director Manuel Mahipos said last Tuesday that after the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) recommended a P1 fare increase, the minimum fare in Metro Manila will now be P8.50 while that in Central Visayas, including Cebu, will be P7.50.
Neda, Mahipos said, studied how much can be considered a reasonable increase after transport groups in Manila filed a petition for a P2.50 increase, from P7.50 to P10, in minimum fare.
While Neda was conducting the study, LTFRB granted nationwide a provisional fare increase of P0.50 last May 21. With the provisional hike, Metro Manila’s minimum fare rate became P8, while that of Central Visayas became P6.50.
LTFRB 7 Director Romulo Bernardes later convinced the LTFRB en banc to grant another P0.50 increase for Central Visayas. With that increase, implemented last June 30, the minimum fare in the region became P7 for the first five kilometers.
Bernardes was planning to ask the LTFRB en banc for a third P.50 provisional increase for jeepney fares when the Neda recommendation was made during a meeting with President Arroyo the other day.
Consensus
Bernardes said he will bring up to the LTFRB en banc the result of the public hearing in Cebu last month, when a consensus was reached to have P8 as minimum fare.
He will leave it to the board to make the final decision.
A minimum fare of P8 was not opposed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), represented during the consultation by Cebu Provincial Prosecutor Pepita Jane Petralba, said Bernardes.
Meanwhile, Ruben Rama, acting chairman of the Nagkahiusang Drivers sa Sugbo (Nadsu), said they will accept P7.50 as minimum fare for Cebu but they want a uniform rate nationwide.
He said that if LTFRB will not heed their demand, they will consider holding another transport strike.
P10 hike
The Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association (MCTOA), on the other hand, will immediately implement the P10 increase in taxi fares, as ordered by LTFRB.
The LTFRB decided to increase taxi fares by P10 nationwide, on top of the metered charge. MCTOA members, however, are not too affected by the fuel price increase because their units run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is priced at P34.75 per liter.
LPG cost P28 per liter when the taxi flagdown rate was fixed at P30 for the first 500 meters and P2.50 per succeeding 200 meters. Although LPG already increased by P6.75 per liter, MCTOA is still not that affected because LPG is economical to use.
“The LTFRB has decided to increase the taxi fare by P10 and we are happily accepting it because we believe that the LPG prices will soon increase again,” Cabucos said.
Cayanong, meanwhile, said labor groups may now file petitions for another wage increase.
In a radio dyLA report, Cayanong said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) 7 will meet to discuss whether there is a need to review the existing P267 per day minimum wage with the continuous increase in the prices of fuel, basic commodities and fares.
The RTWPB is composed of Cayanong as chairman, Department of Trade and Industry 7 Director Asteria Caberte and National Economic and Development Authority 7 Director Marlene Rodriguez as co-chairpersons, lawyer Hidelito Pascual and businessmen Charles Streegan as management representatives and lawyer Jose Boquecosa and Marianito Ventura as labor representatives.
Ventura said that although Wage Order 14, which increased the minimum pay in Metro Cebu to P267 per day, was issued just recently, there is a need to review it now because everyone is affected by the increasing prices of commodities. (EOB)
