THE Taxi Operators of Negros Occidental (Tono) may also seek for another fare adjustments among taxis in the province if increasing trend on the pump prices of petroleum products, especially gasoline, will continue, its top official said.
Mario Eusebio, president of Tono, said on Wednesday, August 1, Bacolod City was among the first to have the recalibration of taxi meters in the country, specifically in May to June this year.
Eusebio said the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) implemented the recalibration and resealing in Davao in January, Cebu in March, Iloilo also in May this year, and now in Metro Manila.
From the P30 flag down rate, it went back to P40. In terms of reading, the charge per kilometer is now P13.50 from only about P12.50, he added.
On Tuesday, July 31, some local oil companies implemented an oil price hike, following a rollback on the pump prices of petroleum products last week.
Reports showed that the “significant” increase in unleaded gasoline was P1.15 per liter, P0.95 per liter in diesel, and P0.85 per liter in kerosene.
“If this increasing trend on oil prices persists, we might seek for another recalibration or adjustments,” Eusebio told SunStar Bacolod, adding that other factors to consider include costs of spare parts as well as of basic goods and services.
(Fare hike cut)
Meanwhile, though they are still amenable with the P0.50 reduction in the fare hike, from P2.50 to P2.00, members of the local transport group United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (Undoc) have lost their trust to the LTFRB-Western Visayas, whether it will really implement an adjustment.
Undoc secretary-general Diego Malacad said “we have no assurance to have an increase even by a single centavo” since the agency has failed to issue a new fare matrix until now.
“We have declared the death of the transport industry here under the administration of LTFRB-Western Visayas Director Richard Osmeña,” Malacad added.
Osmeña, in a report on Tuesday, July 31, said the P2.00 fare increase for public utility jeepneys (PUJs) will take effect in the second week of August.
He said LTFRB Central Office took into consideration the recommendations of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to reduce the fare hike by P0.50.
In June, the agency first approved a P2.50 increase resulting in a fare rate of P9 for regular passengers and P7.50 for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and students.
Once implemented, the final rate would be P8.50 for regular passengers and P7.00 for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and students.
“The transport groups even demanded P10 but the Neda said it is too high,” Osmeña said, adding that “inflation rate is among the factors considered by the agency.”
Malacad clarified that transport groups during the public hearing in Iloilo City last February 5 demanded a P12 increase.
However, consumers and commuters along with some progressive groups appealed for a P9.00 fare hike which was later agreed by other five provinces, Malacad said.
“We will be inviting Osmeña for a transport-media forum in Bacolod City on August 16. We will let him answer all our questions,” he said, adding that “by that time, he can no longer hide.”