THE Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative (Citrasco) yesterday said they will file on Monday a petition for another round of fare rate increase because of the steadily rising cost of operation.
Citrasco president Benjamin Ryan Yu said the jeepney operators and drivers are affected by the steadily rising prices of fuel, tires, lubricants and other consumables.
“We have no other way to survive, but to ask the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board for another increase in fares,” Yu said.
Yu said they will still conduct a general meeting to come up with the appropriate amount of increase. But he said this may be from P7.50 to P8 minimum.
LTFRB 7 Director Ahmed Cuizon said that once he will receive such petition, his office will conduct public hearings and will invite stakeholders including workers, students, consumers and the commuting public.
However, Vic Sapio, president of the Consumers Rights and Economic Welfare (Crew) Inc. said they will oppose any fare rate increase petition because the prices of fuels are fluctuating.
“While, it is true that there are increases in the prices of fuels, there are also decreases. So what if after approving a fare rate increase, fuel prices will go down successively? It’s hard to request for a fare rate rollback,” Sapio said.
Earlier, Rep. Raymond Mendoza (Trade Union Congress Party-list (TUCP)) said the past wage increase as ordered by the Regional Tripartite wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) was wiped out by the fare rate increase.
Meanwhile, Cuizon said the bus fares in Cebu are the lowest in the country because the Cebu Provincial Bus Operators Association (CPBOA) under President Richard Corominas and the Cebu South Mini-Bus Operators Association (CSMBOA) petitioned to reduce it and was approved by the LTFRB in Manila.
Cuizon said this is the evidence being used by LTFRB Board Member Manuel Iway in rejecting the petition by bus operators in Luzon for fare rate increase.
