BY MERRY CRIS DURON & SHETORI ROBLES/DNSC Interns
LOCAL jeepney drivers are seriously considering temporarily halting operations if they don’t receive government aid amid surging fuel prices.
In an interview with TIMES, jeepney drivers said they are already feeling the pain of fuel costs, as they directly affect their take-home pay.
Jujie Dungan, a veteran jeepney driver with 30 years of experience, shared that if gasoline prices increase further, he will be forced to find another means of livelihood.
“We might just park the jeepney and look for other work, because it feels useless to keep driving when most of our income only goes to gasoline. It’s better to find another job,” Dungan said.
Juli Clarin, a jeepney driver of 10 years currently operating the Panacan to SM Ecoland route, echoed the sentiment.
“I might stop driving soon, maybe in just a few days, because gasoline prices keep going up every day,” Clarin added.
Dungan spoke about the drastic reduction in their daily earnings due to the steady increase in fuel prices.
“We’ve lost a lot because gasoline prices keep going up. Before, we could earn 800 to 1,000 pesos a day, but reaching 1,000 is very rare. These days, we can hardly even reach half of that; 500 pesos is already considered high for us,” he explained.
Drivers also slammed and further criticized the decision of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to suspend the implementation of the approved fare increase, which was announced on March 18.
The decision left drivers struggling even more with rising fuel costs and shrinking income.
“Even a small increase in fares could have helped us. But they said it’s not yet the right time, so when will it be? Should we wait until the price of crude oil or gasoline doubles or even quadruples?” Clarin emphasized.
This was also reechoed by Dungan, stressing that even a little adjustment would have made a difference.
“It may have been a small increase, but it would still have helped. Even a little is fine, as long as there’s something added,” he said.
To note, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Davao Region on March 17 announced a P1.00 fare increase for traditional jeepneys and a P2 hike for modern jeepneys in response to the rising fuel prices, but PBBM ordered the suspension of the fare hike a day before it was scheduled to take effect on March 19.
