P10 jeep fare approved

Starting November, the minimum jeepney fare in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon is set to go up from P9 to P10, after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) approved on Wednesday a petition filed by four transport groups.

LTFRB Chair Martin Delgra and Board Members Ronaldo Corpus and Aileen Lizada signed the decision on Wednesday afternoon, but the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it was not yet docketed and thus not yet “official.”

“We request drivers to wait until the LTFRB releases the official document on the fare hike before charging any additional fares,” said Goddess Hope Libiran, communications director of the DOTr.

The same LTFRB decision denied the transport groups’ proposal for an additional P2 increase. The board also turned down the request of transport groups to charge an extra P1 for every succeeding kilometer after the first 4 km.

Second increase

This is the second round of jeepney fare hikes implemented by the LTFRB in three months, as transport groups lobbied for an increase in the wake of rising prices of petroleum products.

In July, the LTFRB approved a P1 provisional increase from P8 to P9 in response to a petition filed in 2017 by the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (Fejodap), Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations, League of Transport Operators of the Philippines, and Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines.

Strike threat

In their original petition, the four transport groups requested that the minimum fare be raised from P8 to P10 amid rising pump prices. An amended petition filed in January sought P2 more.

As fuel prices surged for eight consecutive weeks, transport groups threatened a nationwide strike as they called on the LTFRB to grant their petition to augment their dwindling income.

Fejodap president Zeny Maranan thanked the LTFRB for the increase, saying the P1 would add P300 to the daily income of drivers.

Still, she said, the transport groups continued to expect the Department of Energy to keep to its promise of an oil price rollback.

The LTFRB said it had not approved any bus fare increases yet, after several commuters complained against buses charging an additional P5 since Monday in the wake of rising oil prices.

Several netizens have complained that some buses plying the Quiapo-Fairview route in Metro Manila began arbitrarily imposing the extra P5 on Monday.

A photo circulating on social media showed a new bus matrix from the Eastern Fairview-Baclaran Operators Association effective Oct. 15 “due to uncontrolled price hike increase of diesel.”