MANILA, PHILIPPINES: TRANSPORT groups said yesterday that they would ask for an additional 75 centavos to P1 on the minimum fare should the price of diesel reach P21 per liter.

Zenaida Maranan, president of the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (Fejodap) said jeepney groups had agreed to file a new fare hike petition before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) should fuel prices continue to rise.

Diesel currently sells from P20.30 to P20.50 per liter.

"We would ask for a 75-centavo increase unless oil companies agree to grant us a discount of at least P1 per liter on diesel," said Maranan.

Fejodap is the country's largest transport group with more than 250,000 members nationwide.

Bus organizations will also wait for diesel to cost P21 a liter before filing a fare hike petition, revealed Alex Yague, president of the City and Provincial Buses Associations Alliance of the Philippines.

Reached for comment, LTFRB Chair Maria Elena Bautista said that she would meet with transport groups next week to avert any fare hike petition. Bautista is attending a regional transport group meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

"We will hold a dialogue with them. We will have to know what they want. It is too early to act on another fare petition," said the LTFRB chief.

Maranan explained that in June, when the P1.50 minimum fare hike took effect, diesel was at P18.10 per liter. She said the price of fuel had gone up by more than P2 per liter since then.

Jeepneys now charge P5.50 for the first 4 km and P1 for each succeeding kilometer. Ordinary buses increased their fare to P6 on the first 5 km.

Piston or the Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide urged the government to scrap the oil deregulation law and take over the operations of Petron Corp.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the members of which control half of the world's oil exports, had been unable to arrest rising prices despite increasing its production.

©2004 www.inq7.net all rights reserved

http://beta.inq7.net/metro/index.php?index=1&story_id=5587