Jeepney drivers to protest oil price hikes

MANILA, Philippines — Jeepney drivers are calling on the public to join a mass protest to stop rising oil prices.

The government is not taking appropriate measures to stop oil price hikes, according to Mody Floranda, president of PISTON or the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Natiowide.

“It could suspend excise taxes imposed under TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law) and VAT (value-added tax) in the short term to bring fuel prices down,” Floranda suggested.

“It could also push for transparency by unbundling fuel prices to check for profiteering and demanding fuel inventory data from oil companies,” he added.

Drivers have suffered significant losses since October due to oil price hikes, Floranda noted, adding, “Jeepney drivers are now incurring daily fuel expenses of approximately P1,700.”

Poor Filipinos are also suffering from oil taxes while billionaires benefit from tax breaks, according to Floranda.

He urged jeepney operators and commuters to join the protest, which has yet to be scheduled.

Regulatory powers over the oil industry should be revived by the government, which it gave up under the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998, Floranda said.

Progressive group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) has renewed its call to repeal the oil deregulation law amid rising fuel prices.

Urgent and radical solutions are necessary to curb “unconscionable” price hikes, Bayan chairman Teddy Casiño said yesterday. Fuel prices have increased by P5 to P6 per liter since October, he noted.

Government intervention could protect consumers from “volatile price swings,” Casiño said. — Mark Ernest Villeza