AT THE height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the public transportation sector was among those that were badly affected.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions – like limited passengers allowed in the vehicles or fewer people commuting – the income of public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers has clearly decreased.
Now that the city has been placed under Alert Level 1, allowing more people to move around and businesses to reopen, it seems like recovery may start for PUV drivers.
However, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which may be far from the Philippines, had resulted in another problem – rising oil prices. This has affected both PUV drivers and those owning vehicles. Increasing transport cost will also increase the price of basic goods and commodities.
This is something Randy Lascuna is worried about. The 42-year-old taxi driver of his rented cab for four years has not yet felt the slow economic recovery due to the scarcity of passengers.
“Usahay mingaw, usahay wala koy madala karon na mahal nang gasoline [ug] krudo. Dili naka kabwelo kay mahadlok kay mahal nakayo ang gasoline," he said.
(There are times that I only get a few passengers onboard. This cannot compensate for the current price hike of oil and crude. Sometimes, I am apprehensive in operating due to the continuing fuel increase.)
Before the pandemic, Lascuna gets to drive around and look for passengers for almost 24 hours. But now, he had to cut it to 12 hours. Back then, he would call it a day when he would be able to get P500 to P600 a day. It would be of luck if he could take home at least P700 to P800 a day.
While the prices of the fuel have not yet decreased and it is not yet clear when, some of his fellow drivers are planning to quit.
“Huna-huna gani nako na muundang ko og drive og taxi, mangitag lain trabaho kay pait naman mamasahero karon,” Lascuna said.
(I’m planning to quit driving taxi and look for other job since it is hard to scout for passengers as of now.)
Retsky, name withheld, 40, a taxi driver for almost a decade, shared how he had to endure the scorching heat of the sun just to line up along the street hoping to get a passenger.
With no other means, he said he cannot give up driving as he has three children, all in high school, to feed and provide for their needs.
For eight hours, he usually brings home P700. He said this is not an everyday case as there are days that he would not reach this quota.
Unfortunately, there is no financial assistance from their operators, but he said they were able to receive financial assistance from Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board ILTFRB). However, with the ongoing oil price hikes, Retsky does not know how much further he could endure.
Retsky said he would continue to drive and hoped that the gradual reopening of the economy would help him cope with this financial turmoil.
"Pasada gihapon, lisod ang kita kay gamay man kita. Wala gyud ta'y mabuhat, ingon ani naman gyud. (I’m still going to cater to passengers even if the earning for now is not enough. We can’t do anything about it.) That is life," he said.
Unlike Retsky, Tots, 58, had stopped driving for a month already due to the ongoing fuel price hike.
Tots said he had driven 15 to 16 hours a day just to mitigate the rising prices of the gases for him to secure his boundary, but this remained futile, which made him decide to stop for a while.
“Sa pagkakaron, lisod kaayo. Ang unsay income karon, itapal na lang sa gasoline ug renta ugma," he said.
(As of now, it’s really hard to look for a stable income. My earnings from driving would mostly go to buying gasoline, while at the same time, another share would go to the rent of the cab the next day.)
Admittedly, he is no longer longing for government intervention in his situation. Instead, he would strategize how his family could survive in these uncertain times.
“Kung mureklamo mi, dili man tagdon kay ubos raman mi. Dili gani tagdon ang ga-rally. Sunod na lang sa unsay naa,” Tots said.
(There is no point in complaining since we are only a minority. They won’t even listen to those rallying on the streets. We just have to accept what’s in for us.)
Lascuna also felt taxi drivers and other PUV drivers were disregarded by the government’s fuel subsidy program.
“Dapat tagaan pud og ayuda ang taxi, kay sa akong makatigdan ang PUJ ra gyud kasagaran ang mahatagan ug ayuda. Ang mga taxi driver looy kayo, ang flagdown rate wala gihapon nag-increase mahal nakayo ang krudo ug gasoline. Unfair kaayo,” Lascuna said.
(They should provide financial aid to the taxi drivers. Based on my observation, only those PUJ are being prioritized. Taxi drivers are felt left behind since the flag-down rate hasn’t increased due to the increasing price of crude and gasoline. It’s unfair.)
Alona Cruz, a public school teacher, has been riding taxis since last year when they were now mandated to work face to face.
However, for the past few days, it became challenging for her to get a cab early in the morning. Even booking via a taxi-hailing app seems to be challenging.
"Usahay lisod i-book og taxi. Kapila ko sige gina-cancel. Kanang magpara sab kag taxi, puno-puno sab. Usahay mingaw kaayo. Maong mapugos ka og jeep bisan dugay kaayo ka makabiyahe," Cruz said.
(It’s hard for me to book a taxi because oftentimes it gets canceled. If you would personally look for a taxi, it’s mostly occupied. Sometimes there are only a few taxis plying. That’s why I am forced to ride a jeep even if it would take more time before I reached my destination.)
She said this might be due to some drivers being forced to stop operating.
Pantawid Pasada Program
To help mitigate the plight of the PUV sector on the continuous increase in oil prices, the government launched the Pantawid Pasada Program (PPP) by providing a one-time subsidy to provide financial assistance to PUJ franchisees and operators due to the recent hike in oil prices amid the pandemic. The program covers PUJs, multicab franchise holders (filcabs), and even modern jeepneys that require fuel. Each unit will be given P7,200 each.
The national government allocated P1 billion for the subsidy program for 136,000 beneficiaries nationwide.
This is in compliance with the provision of the Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law for all operating and valid franchise grantees for PUJs and filcabs.
As of March 19, 2022, LTFRB-Davao announced that an additional fuel subsidy worth P6,500 per unit will be provided for 14,130 units of public utility vehicles.
According to the data of LTFRB-Davao, the additional subsidy was first released to 7,273 operators and drivers of traditional PUJ and filcabs.
To date, 6,034 or 42.7 percent of the target beneficiaries have claimed their subsidy via the PPP cards, which can be used at select gasoline stations.
The subsidy for 6,857 additional units composed of 860 public utility buses, 628 UV Express, 5,220 taxis, and 149 tourist transport services will be released soon.
Based on the previous statement of the national office of LTFRB on February 18, 2022, the P6,500 additional fuel subsidy was supposed to be released in April 2022 but was released earlier to assist the beneficiaries with the increasing prices of fuel products.
In addition, 82 percent of beneficiaries have claimed the P7,200 fuel subsidy as of March 25, 2022. The said subsidy was first released for PUJs in December 2021 and from February to April 1 for Filcabs.
At least 7,273 total units or beneficiaries were provided with the P7,200 fuel subsidy.
Meanwhile, LTFRB-Davao confirmed that it has not yet received any petition for a fare increase in Davao Region as of date.
‘Suspend fuel excise tax’
Various progressive groups had been lobbying for the suspension of the excise tax.
Transport leader Larry Arguilles of Transmission-Piston Southern Mindanao called during a protest on March 16 for the suspension of the excise tax that they said drives the increase of oil prices in the market.
“Ang iya ra gyud madala sa kada round trip naa ra gyud sa kapin gatus ug samtang ang ihayang arkila nasa P400 kung jeep, asa man kuhaon karon sa driver ang iyang income aron madala sa iyang pamilya?” Arguilles asked.
(They can only earn P400 per round trip, now where else can they earn other income for their families?)
He said jeepney drivers are also spending more and earning less due to the oil price hike.
The Piston leader said that a jeepney traveling within the downtown area consumes one liter per round-trip, but for the whole day the jeepney will consume a minimum of 15 liters.
The Train Law, according to the Deparment of Finance (DOF), imposes an excise tax of P10 per liter for gasoline, P6 for diesel, P5 for kerosene, and P3 per kilogram for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
According to a report from the Philippine News Agency, DOF Secretary Carlos Dominguez said suspending the excise tax on oil would cost the government P105.9 billion in foregone revenues this year.
The government had programmed to collect a total of P147.1 billion in taxes from oil products in 2022 – P15.8 billion in VAT at the previous baseline estimate of global oil costing $70 per barrel, plus P131.4 billion in fuel excise tax.
Dominguez warned that reduced revenues would affect public programs and projects – like big-ticket infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build. Build” program, as well as salaries of teachers and uniformed personnel – as tax collections had been programmed to fund these budgetary requirements. (With reports from John Miguel Antoque and Angelica Eugenio, DNSC Interns)