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Drivers of more than 3,000 units of tricycles-for-hire will be collecting additional fare after the city council has approved their petition for a fare hike.
On July 07, Mayor Arsenio Latasa signed City Ordinance No. 08-07 giving authority to members of Motorized Tricycle Drivers and Operators Federation (Motdofed) to collect P8 and P11 from passengers within the poblacion area and those carrying passengers in villages outside the poblacion, respectively.
The new rate allows P2 increase on top of the current P6 fare in the poblacion area, and additional P3 on top of the existing P8 for commuters outside the downtown area.
However, the petitioners must wait for the 15 days grace period for the ordinance to be published in a newspaper of general circulation before the treasurer’s office will release the official tariff to legalize the fare hike.
Felimon Villegas, Motdofed president said they could not do otherwise but to ask the city council for a fare increase following the series of increase in gasoline pump prices and the soaring prices of spare parts and basic commodities.
Saturnino Alforque, the consultant on labor and employment at the office of the mayor, said based on his research a liter of gasoline would only last for 90 minutes. And on the average a driver could earn a gross of P80 on that span of time less P60 for gasoline and lubricant leaving only P20 as cash on hand.
“Based on that figure, a driver could earn P160 in 12 hours, less P100 for rental of the unit. He will have a net income of P60 - which is way below the standard income level,” Alforque said.
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