MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is set to decide on the proposed jeepney fare hikes on Sept. 26, with a provisional fare increase likely to be implemented.
In a press conference on Wednesday, LTFRB chair Teofilo Guadiz III asked the public, especially the transportation sector, to be patient as the hike would affect not only jeepney drivers and operators, but the economy as a whole.
“We know the necessity of fare increase. However, ‘yan ay binabalanse rin namin sa pangangailangan ng buong bansa. ‘Pag tinaasan namin ang presyo ng pamasahe, malaki ang epekto nito sa ekonomiya at magtataasan lahat ng presyo,” Guadiz said during the press conference.
(We know the necessity of fare increase. However, we also balance that with the needs of the entire country. If we increase the fare, it will have a big impact on the economy and will increase all prices.)
“We will consider the fare hike, but give us a little time to determine how much and when the appropriate time to impose the fare hike will be,” he added.
Guadiz explained that there are currently two separate proposals: one is asking for a P4 initial flagdown rate, while the other is seeking P2 flagdown rate.
Apart from the hikes, a provisional increase of P1 is also being proposed.
“One more request would be for the provisional increase of P1, which means over and above their petition they’re asking the LTFRB to immediately grant a P1 increase immediately,” said Guadiz.
Guadiz told reporters that “there definitely will be a provisional hike” but it is still unclear how much it would be and when it will be implemented.
“We’ll have to consult Neda [National Economic and Development Authority] kung piso ba, singkwenta sentimos but definitely there will be a provisional increase, ang issue lang ngayon is magkano and when,” Guadiz told reporters.
(We’ll have to consult Neda if it’s P1 or fifty centavos, but definitely there will be a provisional increase, the only issue now is how much and when.)
The proposals for a fare increase came amid a continuous rise in the price of petroleum and gasoline products.
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