The Transport department said Wednesday it plans to defer the implementation of the P10 minimum fare increase in public utility jeepneys that was supposed to take effect this week.
The agency made the statement even as the Manila International Airport Authority said Wednesday it had proposed to raise the terminal fees to cover the cost of service improvements at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“Our terminal fee is lower than [those in the] Cebu and Clark [airports], and the last time we made an increase was in 1999,” MIAA General Manager Eddie Monreal said in a forum.
“But as you notice, we [have] made a lot of improvements and for each improvement we need financing.”
Monreal said the terminal fee adjustment would be implemented in the second quarter next year.
An official said the Transport department wanted to review the decision of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board increasing the minimum jeepney fare to P10 from P9.
Undersecretary Mark de Leon said they had the power to review the decisions made by the Transport department’s attached agencies.
He said they would be meeting with LTFRB officials to discuss the proposed postponement of the implementation of the fare increase.
He said when the jeepney operators filed a petition for a fare increase, the price of oil was at $80 per barrel in the world market, but after some time petroleum prices dropped to $70 per barrel in October, so a price increase was deemed unnecessary.