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Fare hikes: Juan’s dilemma

Malacañang surprised everyone – the drivers and operators of public utility vehicles as well as the riding public – when the petition for fare hikes was approved.

Unlike in the past, transport groups resorted to transport strikes to push the government to act favorably on fare hike petitions which have been languishing in the Land Transportation and Franchising Board (LTFRB) for almost a year. This time around, after the transport sector held a successful nationwide transport strike to protest the government’s inaction to curb the continuing oil price hikes, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) need not be reminded of the clamor of transport groups for fare hikes as PGMA decided swiftly in favor of the petition, an additional P2 for the first 4 kilometers.

Public jeepney drivers’ average daily income is way below the P573 daily cost of living pegged by the National Statistics and Coordinating Body (NSCB) and the National Economic Development Agency (NEDA), thus, such conditions justify an increase in fare rates. Drivers, just like the rest of us, need to have sufficient income to ensure a decent living.

The sad part is, whatever additional income the drivers will generate from the additional P2 fare will only be temporary because oil prices remain volatile. Given the experience for the past year, increases in oil prices overwhelms the roll back that oil companies have implemented. As a matter of fact, a day after the LTFRB approved the petition for an increase in fare rates, oil companies increased the price of diesel by P0.50. And so, will jeepney drivers savor the benefit of fare hikes?

On the part of the general riding public, the fare hike will surely be an additional burden even if PGMA assured that the daily wage will be increased by P30 at the maximum (this may be lower in the region as it will be the regional wage board who will decide) especially since the price of basic goods like the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) continue to rise.

Furthermore, the additional wage (if indeed be granted), will not even be enough to cover the daily wage-earners’ increase daily expenses brought about by the fare hike.

If the government is sincere in uplifting the economic conditions of the masses, it should have easily granted the long standing P125 wage increase aside from shelving laws and policies that have proven detrimental to the people.

Lastly, the issue at hand is not simply on who will absorb the additional burden brought about by the fare hike. It should be analyzed in a bigger perspective – the government’s policy of deregulation and its offspring, the Oil Deregulation Law. As long as the Oil Deregulation Law is in effect, oil prices will continue to rise. And as we all know, the prices of other goods and services including jeepney fares will also follow suit. #

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