DOTr chief rejects calls for fare hike

MANILA, Philippines — Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has opposed renewed calls by transport groups for a fare increase for jeepneys amid the rising fuel prices.

During a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday, Tugade reiterated his stance against a fare increase.

“If it is up to me, as of today, I do not want increase in fares because the majority will be affected by that. I am not fighting the few, but I am protecting the many,” Tugade said when asked about calls by transport groups for a possible hike in fares for jeepneys.

“It has been my position and it continues to be my position. Let us find different ways to help jeepney drivers and operators. Let us not just focus on the increasing of fares,” he added.

Tugade and other transport officials yesterday signed a MOA with the DOLE to provide livelihood assistance to drivers, conductors, operators and other transport workers affected by the public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP).

The “enTSUPERneur” program aims to help affected workers in the transport industry by giving them an opportunity to establish their own business through livelihood assistance and financial capital.

The program includes entrepreneurial-related training, business management orientation, business capital, micro-insurance and other support and monitoring activities.

“This livelihood assistance program is an addition to the social support mechanism that we have put in place. Similar to the ‘Tsuper Iskolar,’ beneficiaries are the drivers and operators affected by the PUVMP so they will be given alternative livelihood,” Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Martin Delgra III said.

With an approved budget of P200 million, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said the program targets to benefit 6,333 drivers and operators who would be displaced as a result of the local public transport route planning and the route rationalization study as identified by the LTFRB and Office of Transportation Cooperatives.

“We will be given funds by the the DOTr, and we will use this to give livelihood assistance to those in the transport industry such as drivers, mechanics, conductors as well as operators. They can put up a business like a sari-sari store. There is also training to ensure they will be able to run their chosen livelihood well,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is in talks with the LTFRB for intervening measures, including possible cash assistance, amid the successive oil price hikes affecting the transport sector, according to Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

Cusi said the DOE presented last week to the LTFRB its price evaluation in response to the request of the transport sector for an increase in jeepney fares.

“In case a fare hike will not be possible, the DOE and LTFRB are discussing the computation of possible additional cash aid that may be distributed in place of the fare increase,” he said.

The transport regulator will study the need to impose a fare hike for jeepneys, LTFRB executive director Joel Bolano said.

Bolona said they would review the petitions for a fare increase that would be submitted by transport groups.

The Pangkalahatang Sanggunian Manila & Suburbs Drivers Association (Pasang Masda) is pushing for an increase in the minimum fare for jeepney from P9 to P12 to compensate for the rising oil prices.

Bolano said the fare increase could be just around P1.26 based on their computation.

While they commiserate with jeepney operators and drivers who are plying their routes at only 50 percent capacity, Bolano said there is a need to strike a balance because of the crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Freeze on fuel prices sought

Meanwhile, senators asked yesterday President Duterte to order a freeze on fuel prices, which rose for seven straight weeks, to cushion its effects on ordinary Filipinos.

Sen. Imee Marcos, who chairs the Senate economic affairs committee, said Duterte has basis to declare a freeze on fuel prices if there is a major calamity or a national emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Calls for a fare hike will only stop if there is no oil price increase. There is domino effect whenever there is movement in prices of petroleum and it is the poor Filipinos who always end up losing,” Marcos told reporters.

“Let’s not implement oil price increases since the President said we are still in national health emergency crisis until September 2022,” she added.

She has filed a bill suspending the imposition of value-added tax on petroleum products but the measure remains pending at the committee level.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the government must act quickly on the matter before fuel price increases cause greater burden on the public.

“While we have yet to hear from them, particularly the DOE and DOTr, the effect of the seemingly unabated increase in the prices of oil products could easily negatively impact the lives of many Filipinos already suffering from joblessness and hunger due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lacson said.

He said the Philippines is one of the countries in the region at the tail end in terms of recovery from the pandemic.

Lacson said while more and more countries are already opening up their economies, “we have yet to see the light of recovery.”  –  Paolo Romero, Danessa Rivera, Emmanuel Tupas