Tuesday, October 28, 2008 LTFRB may rollback fare before Christmas
THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) en banc may reduce jeepney and taxi fares before the Christmas holidays, said LTFRB 7 Director Romulo Bernardes.
Bernardes said it was decided during the LTFRB directors’ conference at Sulo Hotel in Quezon City last week that the LTFRB central office in Manila will wait for the result of public hearings to be conducted by the LTFRB offices in Regions 3 and 4 and the National Capital Region (NCR) before reducing the fares.
Once the results of public hearings are known, the LTFRB en banc will decide the new fare rates.
Reduction
Bernardes said that there’s no need for another public hearing in Cebu because they have already conducted public hearing on fare reduction based on the petition by lawyer Manuel Iway.
Iway wanted that the jeepney fare will be returned to the old rate of P6 for the first five kilometers, and the removal of the “unreasonable” P10 add on charge for taxi fares.
Iway noted that the jeepney fare was increased by LTFRB when the price of diesel was P47 per liter. As of yesterday, the price of diesel is P46.95 per liter.
Unreasonable
Iway also said that the add-on rate of P10 for taxi is unfair and unreasonable because the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that they are using is only P35 per liter and economical.
Bernardes said that there is definite reduction of fares but the LTFRB en banc will decide on how much after the public hearings in three regions.
Earlier, Ruben Rama, secretary general of Nagkahiusang Drivers sa Sugbo (Sugbo), opposed the reduction of fares because the prices of spare parts, tires and oil also increased.
The jeepney operators also increased the rentals of units after the LTFRB 7 increased the minimum fare from P6 to P8 pesos for the first five kilometers. (EOB)
