LTFRB uncertain on granting fare hike petitions

The fate of pending jeepney fare hike petitions is still uncertain as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) expressed preference for the government’s ongoing service contracting and fuel subsidy programs to address the plight of the public transport sector amid rising fuel costs.

“Historically, before this administration, kapag may pagtaas ng presyo sa krudo ang nagiging kasagutan na agad is fare hike [pero] matutugunan lang ang problema ng tsuper o operator, ang matatamaan naman ang mga mananakay,” LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra III said at a press briefing on Friday.

(Historically, before this administration, if there is an increase in the price of crude the immediate solution is to hike fares but this only addresses the problem of drivers and operators, while the burden will be on the commuters.)

Delgra said the government is more inclined to implement programs that directly address the financial needs of the public transport sector when there is an increase in petroleum prices.

“Hindi kaagad agad ang kasagutan doon ay pagtaas ng pamasahe (Increasing fares is not the immediate solution),” he said.

The LTFRB chief touted the government’s ongoing service contracting program and the distribution of the P6,500 fuel subsidy to ease the financial burden of public transport drivers and operators.

Under the service contracting program, operators and drivers who participate in the government’s free ridership program will receive a one-time payout of P4,000 and weekly payments based on kilometers traveled per week, with or without passengers.

LTFRB reported that as of June, 64,157 public utility vehicle (PUV) units have joined the service contracting program and so far P1.4 billion have already been disbursed out of the P7 billion budget for the initiative.

In terms of ridership, 88,213,915 passengers have already availed of the “Libreng Sakay” from April 11 to June 2, 2022.

For the fuel subsidy program, the LTFRB said that 180,061 PUV operators have already received their fuel subsidy, equivalent to P1.17 billion disbursed for the program.

In March, the LTFRB thumbed down the petition of the transport groups to increase by P1 the minimum fare, from P9 to P10.

The main petitions of 1-UTAK, PASANG MASDA, ALTODAP AND ACTO which seek to increase the minimum fare from P9 to P14 are still pending.

Likewise, LTOP’s petition to hike the minimum jeepney fare to P15 is also pending resolution.

The LTFRB earlier said that in resolving the petitions for fare hike, it has to carefully scrutinize all aspects, especially the inflationary impact it will have on the economy, its effect on the commuters, and the expected domino effect on the price of goods and services.

Nonetheless, Delgra said he does not want to preempt what the LTFRB’s decision will be on the pending fare hike petitions.

However, he said that “what we are trying to do as I’ve said ina-address natin ang issue [we are addressing the issue] in some other ways without having to raise fare right now, currently.”

Since the beginning of the year, pump prices of fuel products have been constantly increasing due to supply constraints in the world market, aggravated by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Latest data available from the Department of Energy (DOE) show that year-to-date adjustments stand at a net increase of P25.55 per liter for gasoline, P29.10 per liter for diesel, and P25.20 per liter for kerosene.—AOL, GMA News