LTFRB set to announce ruling on fare hike

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is set to announce possibly by Monday the final decision on the suspended fare adjustment for jeepneys and buses.

LTFRB Chairwoman Elena Bautista said they are simply finishing the last issues on the fare adjustment and will issue a formal announcement next week.

Last May 9, the LTFRB announced the new fares for jeepneys and buses as they were given an additional P2. Jeepneys had asked for a minimum fare of P7.50 and buses P8.

The implementation of the new fares was supposed to take effect on May 26. However, last May 25, the agency suspended the implementation after it received a complaint from a commuters protection group.

LTFRB Commissioner Felix Racadio had earlier ordered the indefinite suspension on the implementation of the new fares pending the resolution of the motion for reconsideration (MR) filed by the National Council for Commuters Protection Inc. (NCCPI) against the petition for a fare increase.

The hike petition was filed by transport groups, led by the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP).

Petitioner Elvira Medina, NCCPI president, and independent petitioner Antonio Baltazar said that the approval of the new fare rates did not go through the regular proceedings.

They insisted that the fare increase has no basis because no public hearing was conducted prior to the LTFRB’s granting of the petition filed by the transport organizations.

FEJODAP lawyer Vigor Mendoza, in his petition, contested the new fare rates for Regions 6, 10, 11 and 12, which the group said was not enough.

Mendoza explained that the fares for those regions should have been hiked by P2, not just P1, for it to offset the rising prices of oil products.