Bataan drivers boycott common terminal to protest 600 percent fee hike

The Bataan common terminal is deserted following a massive protest action by more than 1,000 jeepney and mini-bus drivers over “exorbitant” terminal fees. PHOTO BY GREG REFRACCION

BALANGA CITY, Bataan—Over 1,000 jeepney and mini-bus drivers in the province on Tuesday (Feb. 1) protested what they described as exorbitant terminal fees being collected by the terminal’s private operator.

Cris Mira, chair of Kasakbayan Transport Federation, an association of 14 transport groups in Bataan, said the terminal fee was increased from P5 to P35—or 600 percent—amid the pandemic.

Members of the association boycotted the transport terminal on Tuesday morning to dramatize their protest, Mira said.

According to her, the increased terminal fee would aggravate the financial woes of drivers, who were barely recovering from a sharp decline in income due to mobility restrictions during the pandemic.

Mira said Park Solutions, Inc. (PSI), the company operating the terminal, also started collecting on Tuesday P150 for QR (quick response) Code, quarterly payment of P1,000 accreditation, another fee for processing a notice to proceed, and P11 per trip.

“How can drivers afford that during the pandemic?” Mira told  INQUIRER.

PSI has yet to officially comment on the drivers’ boycott, which was expected to last until Wednesday.

Mira said the drivers were planning to put up their own terminal while their request for a public terminal is still pending at the provincial government of Bataan.

TSB