NEDA mum on fare hike, recommends increasing fuel subsidy for PUVs

Passengers pictured at Tandang Sora Jeep Terminal in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City on Oct. 19, 2021. The Department of Transportation is pushing for an increase in passenger capacity of public utility vehicles following the downgrading of Metro Manila's COVID-19 alert level from 4 to 3.

The STAR / Michael Varcas

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the calls of groups representing jeepney drivers, the national government is looking at alternatives to raising fares on public transportation amid the disproportionate rise in the price of diesel, including increasing the fuel subsidy program for public utility vehicles. 

Jeepney groups are calling for a P1 increase to the current minimum fare of P9 as diesel prices skyrocket. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board is set to hear petitions later Tuesday. 

Speaking at President Rodrigo Duterte's "Talk to the People" Monday night, National Economic and Development Authority chief Karl Kendrick Chua said that the Cabinet's Economic Development Cluster issued its recommendations involving gas and diesel including: 

• Increasing fuel subsidy program from 2.5 billion to 5 billion 
• Continuing promotional discount of oil companies including 1 to 4 pesos per liter for PUVs 
• Increasing buffer stock from 30 days to 45 days
• Providing additional fuel vouchers for agricultural producers by increasing budget from 500 million to 1.1 billion 
• Suspending or removing pass-through fees in local government units, industrial parks, and subdivisions 

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/03/08/2165819/neda-mum-fare-hike-recommends-increasing-fuel-subsidy-puvs