50 Centavos rollback eyed: Transport group wants lower fare

CEBU – With the prices of diesel fuel down to P41.76 in most gas stations in Cebu from as high as P59, some transport groups are now welcome to the idea of lowering the minimum jeepney fare by 50 centavos.

Cebu City Transport Services Cooperative (CITRASCO) through its chairman Clifford Niñal said there are plans of coming up with a position paper to be passed to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board 7 (LTFRB7) proposing for a P0.50 provisional fare rollback.

Niñal said that they might start making the position paper today so they could submit it this week or the soonest possible time to answer the public’s clamor for a decrease in fare.

He however said that they will continue to monitor for further rollbacks in fuel prices because they might also increase the P0.50 fare rollback to P1.00 if the pump price for diesel reaches P30.

Niñal said that the P41.76 price of diesel is not yet stable so what they could offer the riding public is the P0.50 decrease in fare.

CITRASCO also frowns on the reluctance of oil companies to immediately lower the prices of fuel products despite the drastic fall in the prices of crude in the world market.

Niñal said that they could have long pushed for a fare rollback if the oil companies were also quick to react to the world market for oil.

He added that aside from the price of fuel, they are also considering other factors that affect the income of the operators and drivers.

These include the price of basic commodities and the cost of maintaining the vehicles in terms of spare parts.

Niñal said that some of the operators and private owners have already sold their vehicles because of the very high price of fuel and spare parts.  

CITRASCO intends to have a dialogue with LTFRB7 Regional Director Romulo Bernardes with other transport groups to determine if the proposal is feasible or not.

Visayas United Drivers Transport and Allied Services Cooperative (VUDTRASCO) through chairman Alex Bordadora said that personally he thinks the P0.50 rollback is good enough. But the stand of VUDTRASCO shall still depend on the members.

Bordadora agreed that there must be a meeting among different transport groups in Cebu before they could decide of whether to give the P0.50 rollback or not.

He added that CITRASCO’s move to propose for the rollback is much more appropriate than what Lawyer and former LTFRB7 Director Manuel Iway has petitioned.

However, Bordadora said they are open to whatever decision LTFRB Manila will come up with.

He said he trusts the National Economic and Development Authority and other research and investigating bodies who shall systematically determine the right fuel rollback rate.

Meanwhile, the Alyansa sa Nagkahiusang Driver Alang sa Reporma (ANDAR) strongly opposes the P0.50 rollback.

Romeo Armamento, ANDAR chairman stressed that now is not the right time for any decrease in fare rate.

He said that in ANDAR, drivers have not recovered yet from the high fuel prices.

He questioned how CITRASCO came about such idea while ANDAR thinks that the current price of fuel and other petroleum products is still too much to consider a relief.

The Cebu Provincial Buses and Operators Association (CPBOA) said they are not affected by the fare rollbacks since they have been implementing fare rate lower than what is mandated.

Buses collect only P8.50 for the first five kilometers and P1.20 for the succeeding kilometers while it should be P1.40 for every succeeding kilometer.

CPBOA Chairman Nicholas Villahermosa said if there would be further fuel price rollbacks, they might bring their old rate back to P1.00 per kilometer. This will make the first five kilometers P5 and the P1.00 additional for very succeeding kilometer. —/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)