Bus fare cut looms in Mindanao, exec says

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines — With a major rollback in fuel pump prices, commuters in south-central Mindanao may get a relief with a bus association’s petition to reduce fare, a bus official here said on Friday. Olimpio Par, operations manager of Yellow Bus Line, Inc., the largest bus company operating in south-central Mindanao, said they are awaiting words from the Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines (PBOAP) to lower fees charge to passengers. "PBOAP already filed a petition to reduce fare charges with the LTFRB [Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board]," Mr. Par told a local radio station. He declined to elaborate when pressed for details of the petition, citing that fare rates of bus companies are "lower in this part of the country than elsewhere." Yellow Bus, a member of the provincial bus operators’ association, plies from here to the cities of General Santos, Digos and Davao and rural parts of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat. The price cuts in fuel prices — as much as P6 per liter for diesel and P2.50 for gasoline — took effect Thursday and is said to be the biggest one-time rollback since the oil deregulation law took effect 10 years ago. — Romer S. Sarmiento, BusinessWorld