ILOILO City – Jeepney drivers and operators here are seeking a P2.50 increase in the minimum fare. They cited as reason the increase in the price of diesel fuel, which is now P55 to P56 per liter.
“Daw sobra P2 na ang saka per liter,” according to Raymundo Parcon, president of the Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (ICLAJODA).
The current jeepney minimum fare is P9 for the first four kilometers plus P1.50 for every succeeding kilometer. Drivers and operators want it raised to P11.50 for the first four kilometers plus P1.50 for every succeeding kilometer.
Oil companies implemented another big-time price hike on Feb. 15 for the seventh straight week given supply constraints in the global market.
Since the fuel price adjustments last week, local gasoline prices have already increased by P6.75 per liter, P9.15 per liter for diesel, and P8.45 per liter for kerosene.
According to Parcon, drivers now spend between P1,000 and P1,200 each day for their fuel – up from between P700 to P800 before the series of fuel price increases this month.
The increasing fuel prices are eating on the drivers’ daily income, he lamented.
“Mga P200 to P300 ang nadula sa ila. Ti, may gasto pa sa pagkaon, tubig samtang nagabiyahe,” said Parcon.
Now on average, a driver brings home between P200 and P250 from a day’s work, revealed Parcon.
“Ti, dalawatan mo isa ka gantang nga bugas, waay na bilin. Kag waay kana kan-on pagka-aga,” he added.
An added burden, according to Parcon, is the pandemic restriction of 70 percent maximum passenger occupancy in jeepneys.
Aside from ICLAJODA, also calling for a P2.50 increase in the minimum fare are the Iloilo City Alliance of Drivers Association (ICADA), Iloilo City Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (ICAJODA) and the Metro Iloilo Transport Service Cooperative (MITSC).
Just last week, jeepney oeprators and drivers submitted a petition to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) asking for the suspension of the excise tax on fuel.
Excise tax is a tax on the production, sale or consumption of a commodity.
“Once ma-suspend ang excise tax, manubo na ang gatong. Imagine, 12 percent value-added tax ang ginapatong sa amon sang oil companies kada litro. Amo ni bulu-budlay sa part naton,” said Parcon.
Last December 2021, jeepney drivers and operators sought a P2.50 fare hike but this was not approved. Instead, LTFRB and the DOTr released P7,200 fuel subsidy to each./PN
