P1.50 jeepney fare hike implemented in June — LTFRB

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) confirmed yesterday that it approved the petition of jeepney operators for a P1.50 increase in minimum fare. It also approved a separate petition for a P2 increase in bus fares.

LTFRB chair Ma. Elena Bautista said the formal decision on the fare hike petitions will be released next Monday. The increase will take effect 15 days after the publication of the decision.

With the latest increase, the basic jeepney fare will be P5.50 for the first four kilometers (from the current P4), while each succeeding kilometer will cost 43 centavos, rounded off to 50 centavos. For buses, the basic fare will increase to P6 for the first five kilometers, while each succeeding kilometer will cost P1.25.

Bautista said that when the fare hikes become effective sometime in the middle of June, all diesel discounts given to public transport operators will be canceled.

But the LTFRB chief was hopeful that the fare hike will give jeepney and bus operators the motivation to improve their service. "Now that we have helped drivers and operators, we now want them to help the riding public. We hope that they will now consider more such concerns as public safety, which is being given priority by the LTFRB," she said.

Leaders of transport groups greeted the fare increase with a mixture of gratitude and relief.

While thankful, Efren de Luna, national president of the Philippine Confederation of Drivers Organizations—Alliance of Concerned Transport Operators (PCDO—ACTO), vowed to fight against further increases in the price of oil.

"We are happy that we have finally gotten the fare hike. We have long worked for this. But we in the jeepney sector will continue the fight against the rise of oil prices," he said.

Zeny Maranan, national president of the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEDJODAP), said the increase was "OK" and "just right."

In an interview over radio station dzMM, Bautista said that the LTFRB took into account President Arroyo’s request for it "to study the effect of the fare increase on different sectors, particularly labor."

Bautista said that the President also wanted the benefits of the fare increase to be shared between the operators and the transport workers.

"In the event of a fare increase, the only one that would benefit is the operator, but the President wants us to study how the sharing of the said hike would benefit the drivers and conductors," she said. — With Marichu Villanueva and James Mananghaya