Cebu City – Transport groups in Cebu are contemplating the filing a formal petition asking the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to increase the minimum fare for jeepneys by P1, raising the minimum fare to P7.50.

Ryan Benjamin Yu, Chairman of the Cebu Confederation of Transport Operators and Drivers Association Inc. (CCTODI), the umbrella organization of transport groups in Cebu, said he is still collating data to defend the group’s petition for a P1 increase in minimum fare that they will file within this week.

“I believe the need to increase is there, and if our petition will be granted, it will benefit all the drivers
in Cebu and the Visayas,” said Yu, commenting on reports that a lone transport group, the Nagkahiusang Drayber sa Sugbu (Nadsu) is not supporting the call for the fare increase.

Yu clarified that CCTODI only seeks a P1 increase in minimum fare for the first five kilometers. The group will not ask for an increase in the succeeding kilometer, Yu told Manila Bulletin Wednesday.

He said the group has been planning to file the petition for a fare increase but was requested by LTFRB 7 Chairman Romulo Bernardez to hold it for a while due to the onset of the financial crisis.

But Yu said the price of diesel per liter has already increased by P4.50 in the past two weeks and the drivers could no longer cope up with the increase unless the minimum fare is raised by P1.

CCTODI’s member-organizations include the Alyansa sa Nagkahiusang Drayber-Operator Alang sa Reporma, the Southern Cebu Operators and Drivers Association Inc., the Visayan United Drivers Transport Services Cooperative, Cebu Integrated Transport Service Multi-Purpose Cooperative, the Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association, Cebu Provincial Bus Operators and Cebu Truckers Association Inc.

When asked for comment, Bernardez said his office will just have to wait for the formal filing of the petition, which he expects to be submitted to him this week.

“Transport groups in Central Visayas have been asking me since last month for a fare increase but I requested them to hold in abeyance such request but now they are saying they cannot hold it anymore,” Bernardez said.