LTFRB-10 welcomes petition opposing taxi fare hike

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The regional office of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-10 (LTFRB-10) is ready to receive any petition that would seek the city’s exemption from last year's taxi fare hike.

LTFRB-10 Regional Director Aminoden Guro said Wednesday his office welcomes any consumer-driven initiative for the board to lower the Php13.50 per kilometer of distance traveled, with Php2 per minute of travel time, from origin to destination.

These rates, along with the Php40 flag down rate, were approved by the board in October last year.

Guro was reacting to media reports saying City Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr., chairman of the public utilities committee, has complained about the new charges and accused the agency of implementing the new rates without holding public consultations.

The LTFRB-10 official said that if the City Council, as well as other consumer and transport groups, can draw up a unified petition so that the additional charges to the regular taxi fare could be reconsidered, then he will endorse the move to the board.

However, Guro clarified that prior to the taxi fare hike last year, LTFRB-10 held a series of consultations attended by representatives of various sectors, including a consumer group.

He said the petition for the new rates was filed in 2012 but was approved by the LTFRB board only last year. The last taxi fare increase was in 2010.

Guro said he will "gladly endorse" any petition coming from the various sectors in the city to the LTFRB central office.

He said it is up to the petitioners if they want a discount in the total fare or if they want the P2 additional per-minute charge scrapped.

“Whatever is agreeable to all, I’ll forward it to the [LTFRB] board,” he added, referring to any petition the proponents might draw up.

Although the decision of the LTFRB board to implement the P13.50 per kilometer and P2 extra charge has already been in effect, Guro said the agency’s decision-makers can issue a “supplement decision” based on the petitioners’ local conditions.

Guro cited the situation of Baguio City, where the LTFRB has declared a flag-down rate of only P35 owing to the fact that the taxis there use diesel fuel instead of gasoline; and that drivers don’t need to use their unit’s airconditioners due to the area’s cold climate.

As these extra charges have already been programmed into the taxis’ meters through the calibration, he said another move would be to give passengers a flat discount from the total fare.

To date, about 95 percent of the city’s 2,672 taxi units have their meters already calibrated, said Guro.

The regional director added that he will also welcome complaints from passengers of taxi drivers, who intentionally stall their taxis in the traffic jam just so they could charge more. He warned that any violation against taxi drivers and operators will be met with corresponding penalties. (Jigger J. Jerusalem/PNA)