Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Martin Delgra has disclosed that transport groups have filed a petition seeking a P3 fare hike.
“We can now confirm that this morning there was a petition that was filed for a fare increase,” Delgra shared during the deliberations on the substitution bills by the Senate Committee on Transportation.
The base fare for ordinary passenger jeepney is at P9, and P11 for both ordinary and air-conditioned modern jeeps. Public utility bus fares are at P11 for ordinary, and P13 for air-conditioned units.
The transport groups pushed through with the petition despite Department of Transportation (DOTr) secretary Arthur Tugade declaring that he is strongly against it because the public is still struggling from COVID-19.
Rubbing salt into the wound is a series of fuel-price increases in recent weeks. According to reports, The price of gasoline has reportedly jumped by P17.85/L, diesel by P16.56/L, and kerosene by P14.19/L since January.
“The increase in fuel prices have placed our drivers in a very difficult situation,” said DOTr assistant secretary Mark Steve Pastor. He assured that the agency has started coordinating with the Department of Energy (DOE) and LTFRB to come up with remedies to cushion the effects of the pandemic and the consecutive fuel price increases on the operators and drivers of public utility vehicles.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopBikes.ph. Minor edits have been made
