Operator eggs LTFRB-7 to OK fare hike

CEBU, Philippines - A transport leader in Cebu will appeal with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to give provincial jeepney operators a chance to air their side on why a fare increase is necessary.

Ryan Benjamin Yu, chairman and managing director of the Cebu Integrated Transport Service Multi-purpose Cooperative, one of the biggest transport groups of Cebu, said yesterday that he was made to understand that LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez does not want any fare increase for public utility jeepneys.

He said this apparently was the sentiment of the LTFRB chairman in a dialogue meeting with Manila PUJ operators recently.

“During that meeting, wa man gi-invite ang mga provincial operators. Ang mga Manila operators ra iyang gipatawag. But we hope nga kaming mga provincial operators, hatagan sab mi niya og chance to air our side nganong nangayo mi og increase,” Yu said.

LTFRB-7 Regional Director Ahmed Cuizon said that their head office has so far not set any public hearing on the fare hike petition filed by CITRASCO.

“So far, wa pa gyuy (there is no) schedule,” he said.

Cuizon, however said that Ginez and other members of the board will be in Cebu next week to attend a stakeholders meeting.

He said he will ask the LTFRB chairman this matter.

Last March, CITRASCO petitioned for a P2.50 increase to make the PUJ minimum fare P10, without asking for adjustment in the per kilometer rate.

Yu, who is also the Cebu Confederation of Transport Operators and Drivers Inc. chairman, said operators were forced to increase PUJ rental for them to recover the cost of maintaining their units.

For the past two years, the PUJ fare for the first five kilometers in Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas is pegged at P7.50; but drivers and conductors have been collecting P8 per passenger on the pretext that they do not have a 50-centavo change.

A 20-peso bill, however, gets a change of just P4, not P5, when used to pay for the fare of two persons.

There are also drivers and PUJ conductors who collect P7 instead of 6 per student, who are supposed to get a 20 percent fare discount like what senior citizens supposedly enjoy.

Cuizon has been urging passengers to file a complaint at their office against drivers overcharging their passengers.

Asked if there has been anyone who did not mind the hassle and complained over a 50-centavo change, Cuizon admitted no one has come yet.

As part of due process, a complainant has to proceed to the LTFRB-7 office and must show up during a hearing, where he gets to face the erring driver he is complaining against.— /RHM (FREEMAN)