Drivers in provinces also seek fuel tax halt
ILOILO CITY—Drivers, operators and their supporters launched a transport strike here on Thursday, demanding the immediate suspension of levies on fuel such as value-added tax (VAT) and excise tax.
Joining the strike, scheduled until today, were groups affiliated with Piston, Manibela and a coalition campaigning against the phaseout of jeepneys under the country’s public utility vehicles modernization program.
Beyond the transport sector, youth and urban poor groups joined the protest to show their support for the drivers.
According to the groups, the excessive spike in fuel prices has forced many drivers to stop plying their routes because they no longer have enough earnings left to support their families.
Samantha Faye Herbolario, chair of Anakbayan Panay, said that while a P1 increase in fares might offer slight relief, it is not a permanent or effective solution. “A fare hike can no longer compensate for the losses. In fact, a driver loses up to P1,000 daily due to the high cost of [fuel],” she said.
Herbolario blamed the oil deregulation law (Republic Act No. 8479), which stripped the government of its power to regulate oil prices, virtually handing that authority over to private companies.
Beyond merely suspending the fare hike, as was ordered by President Marcos, the groups demanded the suspension of VAT and excise tax on petroleum products to immediately lower oil prices. They also called for the repeal of the oil deregulation law.
In Negros Occidental, Rodulfo Gardoce Jr., chair of United Negros Drivers and Operators Center (Undoc), an affiliate of Piston, said they agreed with the President that fare hikes were insufficient remedies to solve the effects of rising fuel prices precipitated by the crisis in the Middle East.
Instead, they urged Mr. Marcos to order the immediate suspension of the VAT and excise tax on fuel, he said.
Undoc staged a protest in front of the northbound terminal in Bacolod City on Thursday.
Eric Bendoy, Undoc secretary general, said the increase in fuel prices radically slashed the earnings of drivers, from the previous P800 to P900 daily to just P200 to P300.
Earnings reduced
Bendoy called on local governments to endorse to the national government the list of drivers who should benefit from the P5,000 aid under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations.
Gardoce said the promised subsidy for transport workers should cover the about 1,000 drivers in Bacolod who have not consolidated under the jeepney modernization program.
In Bukidnon, sugar planters are asking for increase in fuel subsidy from sugar millers to cushion the impact of rising costs to bring their cane harvest to milling plants.
The two sugar milling companies in the province had extended an additional P30 per ton fuel subsidy to help farmers cope with rising transport costs as the milling season is now halfway through.
“This support is meant to assist farmers while the fuel crisis continues,” said Kishler Pascual, administrator of Crystal Sugar Co. Inc., noting that delays in hauling could cause harvested cane to spoil.
Sugar planter Jude Palmada said trucking allowances were recently raised from P170 to P200 per ton, but this remains insufficient. “What we are asking for is P250 per ton,” he said, adding that trucking costs have climbed to P350 to P400 per ton.
In Eastern Visayas, rising fuel prices are prompting varying responses from local governments and transport groups across the region, with some pushing for fare increases while others demanding subsidies to shield commuters from fare increases.
In Leyte province, the federation of drivers associations has petitioned the Tacloban City council to raise the minimum fare for motorcycles-for-hire from P12 to P15 as the price of gasoline has increased from P55 to P90 per liter in Tacloban City.
In Samar, however, Calbayog City Mayor Raymund Uy reaffirmed a strict “no fare hike” policy despite escalating fuel costs. During a March 16 meeting with tricycle operators and drivers associations (Toda), the mayor assured the public that fares for local transport services, including tricycles or “timbol,” will remain unchanged.
Instead, the city government is implementing a fuel subsidy program aimed at supporting drivers without passing additional costs on to commuters.
In Southern Leyte, the Maasin City government approved a fare increase through an executive order signed by Mayor Luz Mercado, setting a 20-percent provisional fare hike for motorcabs-for-hire. —REPORTS FROM IAN PAUL CORDERO, CARLA P. GOMEZ, JOEY GABIETA AND MEL VELEZ
