Commuters’ group seeks suspension of fare hike

A commuters’ protection group filed before the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) yesterday an appeal to suspend the P2 fare hike for jeepneys and non-aircon buses in Luzon.

The National Council for Commuter Protection Inc. (NCCP) said the upholding of the hike by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) the other day was "totally unfair, unjustified, excessive and issued arbitrarily without due process and is thus considered illegal."  

The NCCP challenged transport groups and LTFRB to a "legal showdown" as it called on the agency to come out with its technical computations and justifications for the increase.  

Lawyer  Vicente Millora, NCCP legal counsel, said the LTFRB "rammed the fare hike decision down our throats and did not even given us enough time to digest it by making it effective on the day of its issuance." 

Millora said the NCCP has no recourse but to file an appeal with the LTFRB and with Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza to issue an immediate suspension of the fare hike pending the resolution of the appeal. 

He argued that under LTFRB’s own rules of court as provided by the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, any concerned party is given 30 days from receipt of a notice of a decision to allow time make any counter legal reaction, such as a motion for reconsideration, a higher administrative appeal, a temporary restraining order or any other legal remedy.  

"Surprising the riding public with a decision effective on the day of its issuance is a total violation of the constitutional right to due process. A deadline and enough time should have been set ahead before any decision becomes executory," Millora said.

He also said the LTFRB, as a quasi-judicial body, should know the basics of law and due process. 

"As a government agency, the LTFRB is supposed to balance the conflicting interests among operators, commuters and drivers. But in this case, the LTFRB is surprisingly siding with the operators, who even wanted a higher fare hike of P2.50", he said.  "It is believed many drivers do not really want a fare hike since it will reduce their volume of passengers, particularly for short trips, as well as increase their boundary. It is for this reason some transport groups like PISTON have opposed the fare hike and focused instead on how to reduce fuel prices." 

Millora said the LTFRB totally ignored the arguments raised by NCCP, and agreed fully with the transport groups’ lawyers. "By depriving the riding public, through NCCP, its due process, the LTFRB has committed legal overspeeding. And by failing to step on the legal brakes, it may end up in a legal crash or accident."

The NCCP also argued it would be difficult to roll back fares once they have been increased, unlike other commodities, the prices of which go up and down freely following market forces.

"Transport fares once increased are not likely to roll back. Worse, it triggers a deleterious price spiral that affects business and ordinary people, including families of drivers themselves. So the best strategy is finding alternative ways to bring down costs of fuel, at least for the public transport sector,"  the group said. 

Meanwhile, Senator Mar Roxas questioned the timing of the implementation of the fare increase at a time when prices of basic goods and commodities are also on the rise.

Roxas said the commuting public is not capable of absorbing the P2 fare hike at this time since the prices meat, poultry and processed food have been going up. – With Marvin Sy