LTFRB sets hearing for P5 jeepney fare hike petition on Sept. 12
MANILA, Philippines — The next hearing for the petition to increase the jeepney fare in Metro Manila by P5 is set for Sept. 12, Teofilo Guadiz III, chair of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), announced in a press conference on Wednesday.
The petition was filed Pasang Masda, Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association, and Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations.
They are asking for a P5 fare hike for the first 4 kilometers and an additional P1 for each succeeding kilometer.
The transport groups cited the rising price of fuel and the “increased paying capacity” of commuters as the cause for their petition.
Meanwhile, an LTFRB meeting will be held on Aug. 29 to discuss a proposed provisional increase in the jeepney fare.
The exact amount, however, will be decided at that meeting.
Asked why granting of the increase was taking a while, Guadiz said the petitions would first have to undergo the regular process. The differing fare hike proposals, he added, were not making it easy for the LTFRB to make a decision.
“We are forced to listen to all of the proposals so that the board can decide what the correct fare increase really is. If they had only one voice, it would have been easier to make a decision,” he said in Filipino.
“But because their requests for a fare increase are scattered, each request will force us to study so it would take a while before we can come up with a fare matrix.”
Guadiz said the fare matrix would be submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority for an opinion.
So far, only jeepney operators have submitted a petition for a fare increase, he added.