Jeepney drivers threaten strike

In a move aimed at appeasing transport groups that have filed for fare increases, President Arroyo and her Cabinet have agreed to reduce or even eliminate the duties on imported spare parts for public utility jeepneys and buses (PUJs and PUBs).

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye announced yesterday over the government-run Radyo ng Bayan that the government had decided on this measure as the better answer to the increase in oil prices.

"A decision was announced at the Cabinet meeting yesterday to reduce the tariffs for (imported) spare parts being used by the public transport sector," Bunye disclosed.

Behind a "consolidated" fare hike petition filed by five major jeepney groups before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday morning was the threat to stage a nationwide transport strike if the fare increase isn’t granted within two weeks.

It was learned that the jeepney groups, namely the Philippine Confederation of Drivers Organizations—Alliance of Concerned Transport Operators (PCDO), the Federation of Jeepney Drivers and Operators Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP), MJODA, ALTODAP and PISTON, had included a petition for a provisional authority to impose the fare increase while the LTFRB is deliberating on their main petition.

The fare hike petition of the five jeepney groups comes in the wake of a similar petition filed last month by three bus groups for a P1 to P1.50 fare hike.

Bunye said the tariff reduction is on top of a program being implemented by the Department of Energy (DOE) to provide 119 gasoline outlets where PUJs and PUBs can buy diesel at a discounted price.

He said DOE Secretary Vicente Perez told the Cabinet that the price of crude oil in the world market is expected to decrease soon as the winter season ends in the biggest oil consuming nations.

Interviewed by The STAR at Malacañang yesterday, Perez revealed that they had recommended the tariff reduction on spare parts for a limited period of six months under Executive Order 243.

EO 243 was issued on Oct. 2, 2003 by Mrs. Arroyo but is yet to be implemented as the guidelines have yet to be released.

Under the draft guidelines, a copy of which was furnished by Perez, the tariffs on some imported spare parts used by jeepneys and buses would be reduced to zero ("duty-free") or cut from the present ten to five percent to just three percent.

The reduced tariffs for spare parts could be availed of by operators or members of jeepney or bus associations or cooperatives accredited by the LTFRB or the Office of Transportation Cooperatives of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). — With Rainier Allan Ronda