Metro Manila, Philippines – Raising transport fares should be the last resort, Malacañang said Tuesday, Sept. 22, as bus operators and jeepney groups called for relief from rising fuel costs.
Palace press officer Claire Castro said the government wants to help drivers and operators without adding to the commuter burden, even as the administration is studying the requests and has not ruled out a fare increase.
“Hangga’t kakayanin lang po na ibigay muna ang tulong sa ating mga tsuper sa transport sector nang hindi tataas ang pamasahe, iyon po muna ang ginagawa ng administrasyon,” Castro said.
[Translation: For as long as we can provide assistance to drivers and the transport sector without raising fares, that is what the administration will do first.]
Bus company Victory Liner has called for the lifting of a suspension on a previously approved fare increase. It said fuel now accounts the majority of operating cost, in addition to maintenance, modernization loans, and toll.
A number of provincial and city bus operator associations backed the appeal. The provisional increase, approved in March, was suspended before it took effect.
Transport group MANIBELA also called for an immediate fare increase Tuesday. It said drivers need higher fares rather than aid to keep up with fuel prices and daily expenses.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board is reviewing pending fare petitions and expects to submit a recommendation to the Department of Transportation in October.
Castro said Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez hopes a fare increase will be the “last resort.” She cited fuel discounts and toll exemptions for provincial buses among the measures intended to ease operators’ costs.
The government’s ₱12-per-liter fuel subsidy for public utility vehicle drivers, however, has been put on hold because of restrictions on public spending ahead of the barangay and youth council elections.
Transport group PISTON has announced a nationwide strike on Sept. 29 and 30 to protest fuel price increases. It is also calling for the removal of excise tax and value-added tax on fuel.
Castro said the administration is awaiting a separate recommendation on whether to reduce or suspend fuel excise taxes.
The economic team could submit it to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. this week, she said.
