Jeepney fare hike burdens commuters, hardly helps drivers — groups

MANILA, Philippines — While the P1 fare hike may be a welcome development for jeepney drivers affected by rising fuel prices, the increase places an additional burden on the riding public, groups said.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Friday signed the order granting the P1 provisional fare hike for public utility vehicles in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon. The order effectively increased the fare for the first four kilometers to P9 from P8.

The LTFRB board cited the rise in oil prices and the increase in the prices of commodities as the reason for granting the petition of transport groups.

READ: P1 jeepney fare hike begins today

But for Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan and labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno, the hike worsens the budget constraints of the poor without truly addressing the plight of drivers and operators.

The rising prices have been blamed on the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, which lowered income tax rates but also imposed higher excise taxes on fuel and "sin" products. Government economic managers contend, however, that TRAIN is not the only reason for higher prices.

“Instead of addressing head-on the collapse of the income of jeepney drivers by repealing the oil deregulation law or suspending the collection of excise taxes on petroleum products, the Duterte administration opted to make the general public bear the burden,” SPARK spokesperson Jade Lyndon Mata said.

“A P1 fare hike won’t help drivers and operators put food on the table or send their children to school or pay rent or utility bills. Instead, the fare hike is intended to pass on to commuters the burden of paying for overpriced and overtaxed fuel, which the Duterte administration brought on itself through anti-people measures such as TRAIN and Oil Deregulation Law,” KMU chair Elmer Labog said.

The Oil Deregulation Law liberalized the oil industry in 1998 after a fund meant to cushion fluctuations in oil prices became too expensive for the government, and to "ensure a truly competitive market under a regime of fair prices, adequate and continuous supply of environmentally-clean and high-quality petroleum products."

Repeal TRAIN law instead

What Filipinos need, the groups said, is for the government to repeal the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law.

Higher global oil prices—worsened by the continuing depreciation of the peso—are also raising commodity prices.

Inflation spiked to 5.2 percent in June from 4.6 percent in May, beating the central bank’s forecast of 4.3 to 5.1 percent range for the month.

“What drivers and other Filipino workers need is not a fare hike. We need the TRAIN law to be junked. We need the National Minimum Wage Bill passed. We need our wage increased to P750 a day for all workers across the country,” Labog said.

“The fare hike merely placed the issue of wage increases and the urgency to repeal the TRAIN law front and center. Further denial of the demands for economic relief is a political weapon the people will aim at the Palace,” Mata added.