BAGUIO CITY April 23 – The Cordillera office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO-CAR) will respect whatever will be the consensus of barangay officials, jeepney operators and drivers and the riding public on the fare that will be collected from the passengers of jeepneys that will be allowed to temporarily operate during the prevalence of the extended Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine.
LTO-CAR regional director Francis Ray Almora pointed out that what governs the prevailing fare in the city was the latest order handed down by the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) that pegged the P9 minimum fare for the first 4 kilometers plus P1.50 additional for every kilometer that will be traversed and that whatever will be the additional charges that will be collected from the passengers will be considered as over charging on the part of the drivers and operators.
However, he disclosed that the agency was not informed of the earlier consensus of barangay officials, jeepneys operators and drivers and the barangay residents on the amount that will be collected from the passengers which is not supposed to be above the prevailing minimum fare while whatever excess amount will be considered as donation or assistance to the drivers because of the policy on social distancing where the jeepneys will not be able to realize their full seating capacity.
“We will have to process the return of the confiscated driver’s license of those who were arrested by the members of our teams that conducted a series of operations in response to complaints of alleged over charging being committed by some jeepney drivers. We understand the prevailing situation but there was somewhat miscommunication that transpired along the way which was already beyond our control,” Director Almora stressed.
Earlier, a number of jeepney drivers were arrested by the LTO operatives for alleged over charging of fare from their passengers after they were reportedly caught collecting P20 fare from them when the prevailing minimum fare in the city is P9 for the first 4 kilometers.
Almora explained that the agency understands the extraordinary situation created by the government’s effort to prevent the rapid spread of the dreaded Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019 where the strict policy on social distancing must be observed, thus, whatever consensus on the amount that will be collected by jeepneys drivers from their passengers should be properly communicated so that it will not appear that the fare being collected from them will be above the prevailing minimum fare.
He clarified that the agency will not impose the prescribed fines for overcharging which is more or less P10,000 to the jeepney drivers who were apprehended during the previous operation because of the existence of supervening factors that warrant them not to be meted such penalty but there is a need for the concerned sectors to provide the LTO-CAR with whatever agreements governing the same which will be used as their evidence in waiving the fines to be imposed on the jeepney drivers who were apprehended for such violation.
Almora called on the public to understand the issues and concerns that have been created by the implementation of the quarantine because what is actually being protected is the health and safety of everyone, especially from being exposed to the contagious virus.
By Hent
