Taken from http://www.gmanews.tv/story/66584/P750-minimum-fare-for-jeepneys-reinstated-starting-Nov-2
Commuters will have to cope with a higher minimum fare for passenger jeepneys when they return from their All Saints’ weekend vacation, after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) reinstated the P7.50 minimum fare for jeepneys from the existing P7 minimum fare.
In an interview on dzRH radio, Thompson Lantion, LTFRB chairman, on Wednesday said the agency partially granted jeepney operators’ fare hike petition amid rising fuel prices.
Lantion said the fare hike will cover Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Southern Luzon.
“Ang P7.50 binabalik na natin ang minimum fare, November 2 na (Starting November 2, we are restoring the minimum fare for jeeps to P7.50),” Lantion said.
This is lower than the increase petitioned by jeepney operators, who wanted to hike jeepney fares to P8.50 – an increase by P1.50 – to cope with the rising fuel prices.
LTFRB earlier this month said the fare hike was “a done deal,” saying it is just waiting for the National Economic Development Authority’s (NEDA) approval of the reinstatement of the old minimum fare for jeepneys.
To recall, LTFRB granted earlier this year the reinstatement of the P7.50 minimum fare for jeepneys in Metro Manila and Regions III and IV and set the date for its implementation for July 2.
But before the hike could be implemented last July, Malacañang issued Memorandum Order 132 signed by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, deferring the implementation of the P7.50 fare, pending a closer study by the NEDA.
In the intervier, Lantion noted that there is no fare increase due yet for passenger buses.
On October 16, Metro Manila bus operators asked for a P2.50 hike in the minimum bus fare, to increase the minimum fare to P10.50 for ordinary buses, from the existing minimum fare of P8 for the first five kilometers.
Bus operators similarly cited the rising fuel prices as the justification for the proposed fare increase. – GMANews.TV