MANILA, Philippines — An economic think tank estimates that minimum fares in public utility jeepneys could balloon anywhere from P45 to P50 in "five years or more" due to the corporatized setup of the controversial PUV modernization program.
IBON Foundation executive director Sonny Africa bared their estimates in a Tuesday interview with ANC, likening the scenario to the past privatization of the water industry.
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"Not immediately. Our model is what happened with water privatization: water rates were kept low for a couple of years and we started jumping up after about three to five years," said Africa today.
"We expect that same kind of dynamic right now: fares will be kept low at maybe P15, P25 maybe the first three to five years, But we fully expect in five years or more, it will hit P45 to P50."
Traditional jeepneys currently have a minimum fare of P13 while modern minibuses charge P15.
Africa's group earlier said that fares could rise from 300% to 400% due to the Department of Transportation's push to modernize ang slowly phase out traditional jeeps and UV Express units.
With modern minibuses and e-jeeps being sold as high as P2.8 million, drivers and operators fear that the modernization program could just bury them deep in debt.
After the government's December 31 deadline to consolidate into corporations and cooperatives, transport groups are only given around 27 months to transition into more environmentally friendly vehicles. Those who haven't consolidated only could only operate until January 31.
"Our basic computation there was that if it's corporatized, you not only have pressure to repay the loans for the higher expense jeeps, but it is also the increased profit motive, premium being added to the fares on top of that," continued Africa.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), the government agency tasked to regulate and adjust fares of public utility vehicles, has yet to respond to Philstar.com's request for comment on the estimated fare increases.
Final consolidation data still unavailable
The Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC), an agency under the DOTr, on Wednesday said that it is still confirming how many public utility vehicles (PUVs) have already filed for consolidation due to the influx of applications on the deadline itself.
"We had a deadline last December 31. Many went to our offices: the OTC and the LTFRB. So many went to the offices, and now that's being sort out and finalized so that we could know the actual number of those who consolidated," said OTC chairperson Andy Ortega in an interview in Filipino on 92.3 True FM today.
"It's so that we know the percentage of each area and the total [operators who consolidated] nationwide."
President Ferdinand Marcos jr. earlier said that the consolidation deadline under the PUVMP will no longer be extended since 70% of PUVs have already reportedly complied.
This had already been disputed by militant groups as misleading after LTFRB figures showed that it also includes public buses. Progressives earlier claimed that 140,000 drivers and 60,000 operators will be put on the unemployment line by February due to LTFRB's deadline.
Piston and other groups earlier asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order on the PUV consolidation deadline. However, the High Court failed to issue one before the end of 2023.