Monday, November 03, 2008 Exec: Bus fare cut looms in Mindanao
KORONADAL CITY -- With the big time rollback in fuel pump prices, commuters in south-central Mindanao may get a relief from a bus association's petition to reduce fare, a bus official said Friday.
Olimpio Par, operations manager of Yellow Bus Line Inc., the largest bus company operating in south-central Mindanao, said they are awaiting word from the Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines (PBOAP) to lower fees charged to passengers.
"PBOAP already filed a petition to reduce fare charges with the LTFRB [Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board]," Par told a local radio station.
He declined to elaborate, however, when pressed for details of the petition, saying that fare rates of bus companies are "lower in this part of the country than elsewhere."
Yellow Bus, a member of the provincial bus operators' association, plies from Koronadal City to the cities of General Santos, Digos and Davao and rural parts of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat,
The cut in fuel prices, as much as P6 per liter for diesel and P2.50 for gasoline, took effect Thursday and is said to be the biggest one-time rollback since the oil deregulation law was enacted 10 years ago.
