The 50-centavo fare increase for public utility jeepneys in the Cordillera will take effect Feb. 24.
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-Cordillera OIC Director Lalaine Sobremonte said jeepney drivers may impose the fare hike even without posting a new matrix.
She said the LTFRB only prepared a notice bearing the LTFRB official seal and the new fare rates for regular, senior citizen, student, and persons with disability.
The notices were issued by the LTFRB to the different jeepney associations last Friday.
In a resolution dated Jan. 30, the LTFRB modified the petition for P14 fare increase for the first four kilometers plus P2 for the succeeding kilometers, which was filed by the different jeepney associations in 2018.
Instead, the LTRFB said the increase should be 50 centavos for the first four kilometers only. Succeeding kilometers will not have any additional charges.
Meanwhile, Sobremonte said in the filing of petitions for fare adjustment in the future, regional offices of the LTFRB will compute rates using the formula set by the LTFRB en banc in Memorandum Circular 2019-035.
The circular institutionalized the mechanisms, processes, and procedures in determining the changes in the fares, rates, and other related charges in public land transportation.
Sobremonte said there will no longer be public hearings in petitions for fare increase.
Instead, the board en banc will deliberate if it needs to adjust fares based on the recommendation of its regional offices.
Prior to the issuance of MC 2019-035 in July 2019, fare rates were suggested by transport associations that file their petitions for increase.
In MC 2019-035, factors to be considered when deciding fare adjustments are official report on fuel prices by the Department of Energy and the total operating and maintenance cost based on surveys, studies, and investigations conducted by the LTFRB among operators, drivers, and industries in the public land transportation service. – Rimaliza A. Opiña
April 20, 2024
