Jeep fare rolled back in Central Visayas

The rollback in public utility jeepney (PUJ) fare has reached Central Visayas.

On Monday, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced the provisional reduction of PUJ minimum fare in the region by 50 centavos. The first four kilometers will now cost P7, from P7.50, while the rate for succeeding kilometers will remain.

“[Public transport] passengers in the Visayas region should be able to feel the effect of the continuing rollbacks of diesel prices,” LTFRB chair Winston Ginez said in a statement.

Ginez noted that on Monday alone, major oil companies implemented a rollback in gasoline and diesel prices of P1.70 and P1.50 per liter, respectively. According to the Department of Energy, gas prices dropped P13 in 2014 and diesel prices by P15.

Reached for comment, the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) said it had no problems with the fare rollback as the militant group was also “concerned” about commuters.

But it noted that the government seemed to have an unfair “double standard” as it was allowing increases in water and electricity prices, and even the light rail transit fares.

“We ask that the government also rollback the prices of prime commodities and services. They keep on picking on jeepney drivers, who are already living in poverty, but they can’t control those in the private industry,” Piston national president George San Mateo said in a phone interview.

San Mateo said Piston had more than 3,000 members in Central Visayas—around 1,500 in Cebu and 2,000 in Negros Oriental.

The temporary fare rollback in Central Visayas stemmed from a petition filed by one Augustus Pe Jr., which the LTFRB regional office in Cebu City heard in December last year.

Pe asked for the reduction, noting that current fuel prices were comparable to December 2008 prices, when the price of diesel was P36.76. Consequently, the PUJ fare then only cost P7 for the first five kilometers, he said in his petition.

Also in December, the LTFRB implemented a provisional rollback by P1 of minimum fares for PUJs plying routes in Metro Manila and to and from the neighboring provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna.

Ginez said he had ordered all regional offices of the agency to conduct public hearings to assess the effect of the oil price rollbacks on commuters and the operations of public utility vehicles in their areas.