P7K daily needed for P2.8-M worth modern jeep? LTFRB says there are cheaper units

As much as P7,000 per day is needed so that transport cooperatives can pay their loans and drivers would earn enough for their family if they would get a modern jeepney worth P2.8 million, 1 Rider party-list Representative Bonifacio Bosita said Wednesday.

“Based on [state-run bank] Landbank computation of granting loans at 6% annual interest payable for seven years and at P2.8 million per unit, a cooperative would need to raise P40,000 monthly to pay for each unit. This amount excludes fuel, facilities, cooperative management, maintenance and other mandatory expenses. Each unit would need to earn P4,000 to P5,000 a day for these expenses [of loan payment and maintenance], excluding the amount that the driver will earn. If drivers are looking at earning P1,500 or P2,000 per day, that would be P7,000 per day,” Bosita said during the House transportation panel inquiry on the PUV modernization program.

Asked by lawmakers if Bosita’s computation was accurate, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III responded by saying “The computation is based on the acquisition cost of P2.8 million. We have [modern] jeepneys that cost P980,000 [each].”

House committee on transportation chairperson Romeo Acop then cut Guadiz and said, “What we are asking is that, is the computation by Honorable Bosita accurate?”

“We respectfully differ with the computation of Honorable Bosita based on certain premises,” Guadiz said.

Acop then replied, “[So] it is not accurate?”

Guadiz said, “I would not say it is not accurate if the cost of a vehicle is P2.8 million [per unit].”

Such response further irked Acop, saying that “Nagdedepensa ka agad eh. Yes or no, accurate ba iyon (You are already defensive. Yes or no, it is accurate)?”

Guadiz then said that he cannot respond categorically to such a question.

“We wish to qualify that to a certain degree, no [it is not accurate], your honor,” he said.

1-Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta then asked Guadiz if Bosita’s computation is accurate on the basis of a P2.8 million cost of a modern jeep per unit, to which Guadiz replied, "Yes, your honor."

He said that if each modern jeep would cost P900,000 to P1.8 million, the required daily income to be able to pay loans and other dues “would drastically go down.”

 Bosita, however, said that even for a P1.6 million worth of modern jeepney, that said unit would still need to raise P25,000 a month to pay for the loan alone based on Landbank terms.

“I have basis. So do you [in the LTFRB] even have an idea how much would the fares should be para makabayad sa utang at kumita naman ang mga driver (to pay loans and earn income)?” the lawmaker said.—AOL, GMA Integrated News