Group wants more fuel price reduction measures
A transport group is asking the Marcos administration for more fuel price reduction measures and more public utility vehicle units to operate ahead of the resumption of full onsite classes next month.
The Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston) said while most jeepney drivers have been able to take home P450 in earnings due to the recent oil price rollbacks compared to the meager amounts in the past months of continuous increases, the government needs to enact measures that ensure sustainable income generation for both drivers and commuters.
“In times like these, the government needs to also raise the wages of workers so they would be able to deal with movements in oil prices… Right now, jeepney drivers have been able to take home about P450 because of the rollbacks in oil prices in the past week,” Piston president Mody Floranda said in an interview with dzBB over the weekend.
Floranda said jeepney drivers and operators have rosy outlooks this week due to another expected oil price rollback, but he said the government needs to make sure that it has measures to sustain the momentum.
“We’re glad about this development because it will add to what little jeepney drivers are earning, as well as to other PUV drivers… We are still looking at whether oil prices have been rolled back because the President is set to deliver his (State of the Nation Address). What’s possibly tragic about this is if the SONA is done and August begins, fuel prices would again rise,” he added.
Another round of reductions in pump prices could be implemented by oil companies this week, with gasoline prices seen to go down by more or less P4 per liter, while diesel could see a reduction of between P1 to P2 per liter.
If the rollback pushes through, it will be the third consecutive week of price reduction for diesel, and the second straight for gasoline after oil firms last Tuesday slashed gasoline prices by P5.70 per liter, diesel prices by P6.10 per liter and kerosene prices by P6.30 per liter.