PUJ drivers' daily take-home income down to P300 —PISTON

Amid the rising fuel prices, a transport group said Sunday that jeepney drivers are now only able to take home from P300 to P400 of their daily income to their families.

Transport group Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) national president Mody Floranda aired this concern in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, saying that their daily income is far from the estimated family living wage of around P1,100.

“Dahil nga dun sa serye ng pagtaas, kung dati ay kumikita kami ng P400 to P500, ay ngayon ay lalong nababawasan. Halos bumabalik kami sa P300 to P400 ‘yung aming take-home na naiuuwi namin sa aming pamilya na 'di hamak na mas malayo sa family living wage para mabuhay ang lima sa isang pamilya,” he said.

(Due to the series of fuel price increases, our earnings of P400 to P500 before are now decreasing even more. We are almost back to taking home P300 to P400 to our families, which is far from the living wage of a family of five to survive.)

“Batay sa mismong pag-aaral ng IBON Foundation, dapat P1,133 kada araw ang kailangan ng isang pamilya. Hindi pa ito para guminhawa ang kanilang buhay. Ito ay para matugunan lamang ang pangangailangan sa loob ng isang araw,” he added.

(Based on the independent research group IBON Foundation's study, a family needs P1,133 per day. This is not to make their lives easier, but only to meet their demands for the day.)

Citing oil trading in the past five days (January 23 to 27), an oil industry source said that the price per liter of diesel may increase by P0.60 to P0.80 in the coming week.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, are expected to be hiked by P1.20 to P1.40 per liter.

This could mark the third straight week of increases so far this year.

As jeepney drivers in Manila feel the pinch of rising fuel prices, they have resorted to several ways to save their hard-earned money. Some of them only do half-day work, while others chose to just make their jeepneys their home.

“Sa ngayon, lalong lumiit ang kita ng ating sektor ng ating public transport dahil nga dito sa tuloy-tuloy na namang paggalaw sa presyuhan ng mga produktong petrolyo sa bansa,” Floranda said. 

(Right now, the income of our public transport sector has decreased even more due to the continuous increase in the cost of petroleum products in the country.)

“Tayo ay nangangamba sa mga serye ng mga pagtaas dahil hindi lamang sektor ng transportasyon ‘yung pangunahing tatamaan nito kundi mismo ang ating mamamayan dahil alam namin natin na ‘pag tumataas ang presyo ng petrolyo, ay tumataas din ang pangunahing pangangailangan at serbisyo.”

(We are worried about this because it is not only the transportation sector that will be mainly hit, but also the people. We know that when the price of petroleum increases, the prices of the basic needs and services also increase.) —LBG, GMA Integrated News