Jeepney fare cut by P1, Bigger rollback possible – LTFRB; adjustment draws mixed reactions

BACK TO P7.50 — The minimum fare in jeepneys is back to the P7.50 as shown here by a ‘barker’ at the terminal on Leon Guinto Street in Manila, yesterday. Top photo, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Chairman Winston Ginez holds the order slashing P1 from the previous minimum fare. (Ali Vicoy and Michael Varcas)

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday approved a P1 provisional fare rollback for jeepneys plying in Metro Manila.

The fare cut will take effect immediately, LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez said.

From P8.50, the minimum fare will now be P7.50 for the first four kilometers. However, the rate for succeeding kilometers will remain the same.

The fare roll back will also be applicable to senior citizens and students, who are entitled to 20-percent discount.

Ginez said the LTFRB will issue as soon as possible a fare matrix to serve as guide to passengers and drivers alike.

In the provinces, Ginez said the LTFRB regional or provincial offices will have to implement their own fare rollback because diesel prices in these areas vary.

“We have directed them to initiate their own proceedings. Within 30 days, they have to report to the board what they have done with regard to the fare rollback. We would like that their decisions be based on regional prices,” said Ginez.

The LTFRB chairman said the rollback now is similar to 2011 when diesel prices were in the range of P34-P35, and the minimum fare was P7.50.

Ginez said the provisional rollback for now “is effective until further notice” but there is a possibility that jeepney fares might have bigger reductions in the future.

PALACE WELCOME ROLLBACK

Malacañang welcomed the P1 provisional fare rollback.

“That’s a timely decision from the LTFRB and will certainly be welcomed by the riding public,” Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.

The fare rollback was also a welcome development for transport and consumer groups.

Elvira Medina of the National Center for Commuters Safety and Protection said it’s “about time” the rollback was implemented.

George San Mateo of Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston) expressed the same sentiment. However, he is concerned that the sudden implementation of the fare rollback might cause a ruckus in the streets.

He appealed to the LTFRB to set a proper date for the implementation of fare rollback to avoid discord within the streets, especially since not all drivers and passengers are aware of this provision.

Obet Martin of Pasang Masda said that the price rollback is just right since it is in accordance with diesel prices now. But like San Mateo, he is concerned that arguments might arise between drivers and passengers with the sudden implementation of the rollback.

MIXED REACTIONS

While Malacañang, consumers, and transport groups welcomed the rollback, the labor sector had mixed reactions.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesperson Alan Tanjusay lauded the fare cut as an early “Christmas gift” for workers.

“The jeepney fare rollback is a welcome development for workers at this economically difficult period. This is a Christmas gift for minimum wage earners who commute everyday for work,” Tanjusay said.

“It’s a small amount but it’s a big relief for working people,” he added.

But the militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) demanded a higher fare rollback, saying it is not “commensurate” with the decrease in the global prices of petroleum products.

“Oil rollback should be more or at one-time not in installments.That’s cheating by big oil cartels,” KMU Chairman Elmer Labog said.

Labog also said the other private transportations like airlines, Metro Rail Transits (MRT), and the Light Rail Transits (LRT), should also follow the example of PUJs in reducing their fare rates.

He also said other private companies should also reduce prices of their services or goods to relieve workers of their financial woes.

“It’s high time for other quarters to follow suit. Like businessmen who should lower the prices of their commodities and services,” he added.

Negros Oriental Rep. Manuel Iway had earlier filed a petition seeking a reduction in jeepney fare.

Iway had asked the LTFRB to reduce the minimum fare from P8.50 to P8 for the first four kilometers, and the succeeding kilometer rate from P1.50 to P1.40 for jeepneys in Metro Manila, Regions 3 and 4. - by Czarina Nicole O. Ong (With reports from Genalyn D. Kabiling and Samuel P. Medenilla)

Jeepney fare cut by P1

MANILA, Philippines - The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday approved a provisional P1 rollback in the minimum fare for passenger jeepneys in Metro Manila.

LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez said the order took effect yesterday.

Ginez said they would still issue a fare matrix as revised even if the order became effective yesterday.

The jeepney fare cut involves a decrease from P8.50 to P7.50 for the first four kilometers in Metro Manila only.

The additional fare for every succeeding kilometer will still be P1.20.

For senior citizens and students, the minimum fare will be P6.

The board’s order is in relation to the petition of Negros Oriental Rep. Manuel Iway in October to reduce the minimum fare of jeepneys from P8.50 to P8 because of the series of rollbacks of fuel prices.

“Because of the continuing fall of world crude prices, the board moved to implement a provisional rollback of the minimum fare of passenger jeepneys in NCR (National Capital Region),” Ginez said.

The P1 fare reduction will be a big help to the public especially this Christmas season, Ginez added.

The board said the fluctuating diesel prices over the last five years dictated the minimum fare for commuter jeepneys.

In 2009, diesel price was pegged at P23 per liter. Two years later, the price went up to P37.75 per liter, resulting in fare hike from P7 to P8.

In 2012, diesel prices went up to P48 per liter, resulting in another minimum fare hike of 50 centavos to bring the fare to P8.50 for the first four kilometers.

With the series of diesel price reductions recently, the average price of diesel per liter is now at P33, prompting the board to decide to reduce the minimum fare to P7.50.

But the board’s order yesterday is only a provisional fare reduction, meaning temporary.

LTFRB board member Ariel Inton explained they deemed it necessary to issue a provisional fare rollback as they continued hearing the petition filed by Iway.

Another hearing is set on Jan. 14, Inton said.

The group ACTO, which earlier opposed Iway’s petition, has yet to submit its position paper to the board, Inton said.

He said the LTFRB had directed regional LTFRB directors to assess the prevailing condition in their areas and make recommendations if a minimum fare rollback is also feasible in their respective jurisdictions.

Elvira Medina, chair of a commuter group, welcomed the board’s ruling and said it was high time for a fare rollback, considering the decreases in fuel prices.

Labor groups welcomed the decision of the LTFRB to implement the fare reduction.

“The jeepney fare rollback is a welcome development for workers at this economically difficult period,” Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) spokesman Alan Tanjusay said.

“This is a Christmas gift for minimum wage earners who commute everyday for work. It’s a small amount, but it’s a big relief for the working people,” Tanjusay added.

The militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) called on the government to also cut the fare of the Light Railway Transit (LRT) and Manila Metro Rail Transit (MRT) as well as lower the prices of basic commodities and services for the benefit of lowly paid workers.

KMU chair Elmer Labog said workers nationwide are expecting more than P1 cut in jeepney fare since the amount of rollback is not commensurate to the drop in the global price of petroleum.

Labog noted that the fare rollback would also result in a huge reduction in the income of jeepney drivers.

“Even before the rollback, jeepney drivers are only earning a maximum of P400, which is below the minimum wage rate,” Labog pointed out. – By Reinir Padua (The Philippine Star) With Mayen Jaymalin

No to amended fisheries law

Zamboanga City – About 2,000 workers of fish canning factories and fishing vessels staged a rally Monday in front of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) regional office in this city to ask the President not to sign into law a consolidated House and Senate Bill that could close down canning factories and displace thousands of workers.

Jose Suan, national president of the Philippine Integrated Industries Labor Union (PIILU) and vice president of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), warned that should the bill become law, said bill could render about 30,000 workers in the canning industry, who belong to marginal or poor families, jobless.

Suan appealed to Mr. Aquino to veto the bill amending the Philippine Fisheries Code because “all the fishing companies in the Zamboanga peninsula or Region 9, especially in Zamboanga City, will shut down or be forced to downsize and retrench workers.”

According to him, the companies that will be adversely affected by the amended law will be Universal Canning Inc., Mega Fishing Corporation, Oceanic Fishing Corporation, YL Fishing Corporation, Nancy Fishing Corporation, AMR Trade and Industrial Development Corporation, Century Fishing Corporation, OLC Fishing Corporation, E&L Fishing Enterprise, Zamboanga GMS Fishing Corporation, NCW Fishing Corporation, Jordan Fishing Corporation, Sky Ocean Fishing Corporation, Lourdes Fishing Corporation, OR Fishing, AM Fishing, S&M Fishing, Althea Fishing Golden hook Fishing Corporation, Big smile Fishing Corporation, Victory Fishing Corporation, and Walter Fishing Corporation.

House Bill No. 04536 and Senate Bill No. 2414 have been consolidated recently which seek to amend Republic Act (RA) No. 8550, otherwise known as the Philippines Fisheries Code of 1998.

“We support the President. But we were not consulted. We’re willing to sit-down to bring back this matter to the drawing table and to study it deeply by conducting proper consultation with all the affected stakeholders,” said Suan.

Meanwhile, the city government, through the City Legal Office, has prepared its official stand against the proposed amendments to the Fisheries Code that seek to increase the fines for violation of the fisheries law.

Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco said the consequences of the passage of the new law were explained to her by the officers of the Southern Philippines Deep Sea Fishing Association, Inc. (SOPHIL).

“We are assisting them to review their proposed opposition because we are looking at what legal measures that needs to be done in order to give our canning industry the opportunity to exercise freely their economic activities,” Climaco said.

“We have to prepare our documents in writing and submit it to the President,” she added, stressing that the amendment bill, if signed into law, will affect a lot of people now employed in different fishing canning factories located on the west coast of this city.

Looking out for workers

A party-list lawmaker this week called for a congressional probe into the widespread use of contractual labor by which thousands of workers in Mindanao were deprived the right to security of tenure, decent pay and other privileges under labor laws.

In his resolution, TUCP Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza, vice chairman of the House committee on labor and employment, labor-only contracting is circumventing the labor code and denying workers the right to security of tenure, self-organization, collective bargaining, decent wages and occupational safety and health.

He cited the example of one fruit exporter that terminated the services of more than 2,000 of its workers in North Cotabato and simply replaced them with contractual workers from a cooperative and a manpower agency.

“The use of tax-exempt cooperatives which supplied workers to the company is clearly exploitative of the rights of the agricultural workers and exposing them to substandard wages, no overtime pay and without 13th month pay,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza’s revelations are a cause for concern, but are hardly surprising, given that most of us deal with contractual labor every time we visit a mall or patronize a fast food chain. In fact, we suggest that Mendoza’s focus is too narrow, and should be broadened to include the widespread use of contractual labor in the retail and services industry—including the media.

This same phenomenon is the subject of a bill filed by Gabriela Women’s Party Reps. Emmi de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan, which was referred to Mendoza’s committee in May.

“Contractual employment has long been a bane for the Filipino workers and people,” the explanatory note in House Bill 4396 reads. “While it surely allows capitalists to rake in bigger profits, it has not brought about anything beneficial to workers. Contractuals receive wages that are lower than those received by regulars and are denied various benefits. They can be removed from work any time and therefore find a hard time forming unions and asserting their rights. Women contractuals are denied maternity benefits, especially in the havens of contractualization in the country—the export processing zones, malls and other segments of the service sector of the economy.”

For anyone who is serious about inclusive growth, these arguments are compelling.

Unfortunately for workers, the Aquino administration has done little to curb the practice of labor contracting, and has in fact clothed it in legality by issuing guidelines on its use.

This, De Jesus argued, virtually teaches private companies how to “contractualize” their workforce in a legal way, and as a result, contractual workers now outnumber regular employees.

Ilagan added that contractual employment makes it easier for companies to lay off workers, leading to widespread unemployment.

HB 4396 is a good starting point to address a serious national issue. Any attempt to move it forward, however, should be shorn of rhetoric and approach the problem in a pragmatic way that takes into account why companies turn to contractual labor—and take steps to ensure that doing so becomes economically unattractive. - By Manila Standard Today