Transport groups seek regular fuel subsidies, decision on fare hike petitions

Transport groups are seeking fuel subsidies from the government, as they await the decision on their ongoing fare hike petitions amid the continuous hikes in the pump prices of petroleum products.

According to Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators sa Pilipinas Convenor Danilo Yumul, fuel subsidies should be given to drivers on a regular basis, as is being done in other programs of the government.

“Regular sana. Kung ang 4Ps, senior citizen, TUPAD, buwanan, eh kami ‘pag may mag-i-increase lang. Dapat i-sustain natin para maging consistent regardless kung magkano,” he said in Vonne Aquino's report on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

(It should be regular. If the 4Ps, senior citizens, TUPAD are monthly, we only get them when there is an increase. This should be sustained so that it would be consistent, regardless of how much._

He was referring to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), through which government agencies provide subsidies to specific sectors.

This comes as another round of fuel price hikes is expected this week, with oil industry sources projecting an increase of P0.60 to P0.80 per liter for diesel, and P1.20 to P1.40 per liter for gasoline.

A number of transport groups have ongoing petitions for fare increases, one of them the UV Express National Alliance of the Philippines which is seeking a fare hike of P1 per kilometer it submitted to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) September last year.

“Ang UV Express, nag-modernize na kami 2013, 2014. Marami pa nga kaming UV Express na hindi pa po nakakabayad, naka-loan, ito na naman, may modernization, but we have to abide,” the group’s national president Exequiel Longares said in the same report.

(For UV Express, we modernized already in 2013, 2014. A lot of us still haven’t paid and still have loans and now modernization yet again, but we have to abide.)

GMA News is still trying to reach out to the Department of Transportation and the LTFRB regarding the issues raised by the transport groups. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News