Fare cut seen before Christmas
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/18/2008 12:40 AM
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The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board may release a decision on the petition to reduce the minimum fare for passenger utility vehicles by December following the latest round of fuel price cuts for the weekend.
LTFRB chairman Thompson Lantion said that he sees a ruling by the first week of December following consultations with transport groups and even officials of petroleum companies.
"It was agreed during the frist consultation hearings that [if] they had to pursue a rollback, that will be dependent on the price and amount of gasoline and diesel as a point of reference," Lantion said, referring to petitions to cut fares in Central Luzon, Southern Luzon provinces and Metro Manila.
On Friday, independent oil player Unioil announced a P2 per liter reduction in prices of its diesel product while P1 per liter will be removed from gasoline and kerosene.
Seaoil, another independent player, meanwhile, has been selling diesel at P44.98 per liter for private motorists and P43.98 per liter discounted price for PUVs.
Based on the petition submitted by a group on September 19, there should be a P1.50 cut in the minimum fare for passenger jeepneys and P2 for buses.
Transport groups, however, said they can only take P0.50 off the prevailing minimum fare of P8.50 for the first four kilometers.
The LTFRB has set November 4 for the formal hearing of the petition submitted by the National Council for the Protection of Commuters, Inc. Aside from the petitioner, the LTFRB has also invited representatives from Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp. and Chevron (formerly Caltex Philippines) and those from the independent players.
Should there be a consensus on November 4, the LTFRB will give concerned parties to submit their respective memoranda. The agency will then issue a ruling within 30 days after receiving comments. With a report from Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News
