ILOILO City – There will be an increase in jeepney fare next week. No less than the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region 6 confirmed this. But how much would the increase be?
The LTFRB central office would determine the increase, according to Atty. Jun Altura, the LTFRB-6 legal counsel.
The increase would be “indi lang sa minimum fare but possibly include ang subsequent or succeeding kilometers,” Altura told Panay News.
LTFRB-6 will issue a fare matrix right after the central office has announced the specific rate of increase.
The current base or minimum fare covering the first four kilometers is P11 for traditional jeepneys and P13 for modernized jeepneys.
The additional charge for every succeeding kilometer is P1.50 for traditional jeepneys and P2 for modernized jeepneys.
Transport groups welcomed the proposed fare increase. Raymundo Parcon, president of the Western Visayas Transport Cooperative (WVTC), said it would somehow give relief to drivers reeling from the weekly fuel price hike.
Just this Tuesday, Aug. 30, the price of diesel rose by P5 to P6 per liter (for a new price of P79 per liter) and gasoline by P1.40 per liter (for a new price of P71 to P76 per liter).
“(The fare hike is) daku gid nga bulig sa aton drivers kay te imagine mo sang una tag-P92 or P93 ang litro sang diesel. Ang aton drivers sige lang biyahe bisan P9 minimum naton. Ti, subong magabatu-batu gawa sa drivers,” said Parcon.
He expressed hope that the fare increase would be P4 to the minimum.
His group WVTC in 2021 petitioned for a P6 fare hike but LTFRB approved only P2.
WVTC is the umbrella organization of the Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers’ Association (ICLAJODA), the Iloilo City Alliance of Drivers Association (ICADA), and Iloilo City Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (ICAJODA).
Aside from jeepneys, the LTFRB is also looking at six other pending fare hike cases, including those from transportation network vehicle services, from taxi operators, point-to-point operators, UV Express services, and from bus operators.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, LTFRB chair Cheloy Garafil said jeepney fares “are due for an increase already.”
She said the LTFRB would decide on a “reasonable and balanced fare hike” by the first week of September at the soonest.
“This is just a question of how much we’re able to give without causing a huge impact on inflation and on the purchasing power of commuters who would bear the brunt of the fare hikes,” she said.
Garafil cited a study by the National Economic and Development Authority which the LTFRB used earlier to grant the provisional jeepney fare hike last July, as she noted too the inflationary effect even of an increase of P1 in transport fares./PN
