P.50 rollback on PUJ fare to start Monday – LTFRB-10

November 7, 2008

By Lizanilla J. Amarga

Local Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB-10) yesterday announced that there will be a rollback on the minimum passenger fares by P.50 starting Monday.
LTFRB-10 regional director Mandangan Darimbang said he had already met with local public utility transport groups last Wednesday to discuss the fare rate rollback ordered by their higher office in Manila.
He said they have agreed that the provisional rollback of 50 centavos must only be implemented when a new fare matrix is already available and distributed to all the transport groups plying the different routes here in the region.
“Lisud kung i-implement nato dayon kay maglibug unya ang katawhan kay walay guidelines(It is very difficult to implement the 50 centavo rollback immediately as there is no guidelines),” he told Gold Star Daily.
He added that the new fare matrix will be given out for free and will be available in their office today.
Darimbang said the rollback is “provisionary” and that public consultations will soon be scheduled to get the consensus on how much the minimum fare rate should be.
“The 50 centavos roll back can still even increase and thus lowering our minimum passenger fare rates,” he said.
National Transport Group Mindanao coordinator Virgilio Valmoria and Transportation Federation in Cagayan de Oro (Trafeco) president Epifanio Tamiok said they attended the meeting last Nov. 5 and has agreed to the 50 centavos rollback to be effective this Monday.
But Tamiok said as the roll back is only provisionary Trafeco will meet this Nov. 8 for “final deliberation on the matter.”
Meanwhile, Darimbang said there is no need for fare rollbacks when it comes to provincial buses as they are even “undercharging” their passengers.
However, he said there is still no order concerning fare rollbacks for taxis and on whether or not the additional P10.00 flag down rate should no longer be implemented.