By April Therese Tan
Six far hike petitioners filed a P2.00 fare increase for public utility jeepneys in Central Visayas, which includes Cebu, Negros Oriental, Bohol and Sijuijor before Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-7 yesterday, June 9, 2022.
In their six-page petition, the petitioners cited that provisional P2.00 fare increase for jeepney’s minimum fare that they are asking cannot be considered as a burden because if taken together, the millions of passengers who took the free rides and the increase in the minimum wage have benefited the passengers but the jeepney operators and drivers remain at a disadvantage.
The petition stated that if the minimum fare will not be increase by P2.00, it will not only cause prejudice to PUJ operators and drivers and PUVs, but ultimately to the riding public.
The petitioners also said that the P83.55 price of diesel per liter as of June 7, 2022 as per Department of Energy Monitor is 91.35 percent higher than the price in April 24, 2019, which was P44.21 to P47.26, when LTFRB set the minimum fare to P9.00.
The petitioners added that there is a need to provisionally increase the PUJ minimum fare by P2.00 since the price of diesel has vastly increase and is expected to increase further in the coming weeks.
The petitioners are Partylist 1-United Transport Koalisyon (1-UTAK), Cebu Integrated Transport Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CITRASCO MPC), Visayas United Drivers Tranport and Multi-Purpose Cooperative (VUDTRASCO), Mactan Lapu-Lapu Mandaue Transport Cooperative (MLMTC), Talisay Minglanilla Naga San Fernando Carcar Transport Cooperative (TMNSCTC), Mandaue Sabang Danao Multicab Operators and Drivers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MASADAMOD MPC) and Mauswagon Transport Cooperative.