Wider stoppage seen: Jeepney operators stop plying routes over fuel prices

MANILA, Philippines — Half of the jeepney operators in a major national transport group have stopped plying their routes, the group's president said Monday, April 6, as they are now unable to keep up with rising diesel prices.

The other half could follow by Wednesday.

Orlando Marquez, president of the Liga ng Transportasyon at Operators ng Pilipinas (LTOP), one of the country's largest federations of public utility vehicle operators and drivers, said the group will hold a national assembly on Wednesday to decide on a coordinated work stoppage with bus operators and truckers.

Another P17 to P19 per liter diesel hike is expected on Tuesday, April 7, which could push pump prices past P170. Diesel has surged since the US-Israel war on Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz in late February, choking off the route through which nearly all of the Philippines' crude imports pass.

It is not a strike but a halt, Marquez said in an interview with DZMM on Monday.

"Mabibiyahe ka, wala ka namang kikitain," he said. "Mag-karpintero na lang po kami para mayroon pa kaming pambili ng isang kilong bigas at pang-ulam." (You can hit the road, but you won't earn anything. Let's just be carpenters so we can still have money to buy a kilo of rice and food.)

'Naluto na, bakit ayaw ipakain?'

Marquez directed much of his anger at the government's delay in using emergency powers Congress already granted. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 12316 on March 25, which lets him suspend or reduce fuel excise taxes — P6 per liter on diesel, P10 on gasoline — once Dubai crude averages $80 per barrel for a month. Brent crude has been above $100 for weeks. 

But the law only takes effect 15 days after publication, and the earliest Marcos can issue an executive order is around April 12 or 13. 

"Kumbaga sa pagkain — naluto na, bakit ayaw mong ipakain? Hintay mo mapanis para magkasakit, mamatay kami?" Marquez said. (As for the food — it's already cooked, why don't you want to feed it? Wait for it to go bad so we can get sick and die?) 

Even when the suspension comes, he said, the P6 cut barely registers against current diesel prices.

RELATED: VAT vs excise: Which fuel tax cut gives more price relief?

Subsidies for fraction of operators

The government's P5,000 fuel subsidy, which Marcos rolled out in mid-March, is also falling short, according to the group.

Marquez said one LTOP chapter submitted 168 qualified members but only 31 received aid.

He also questioned why oil companies keep raising pump prices when Energy Secretary Sharon Garin has assured the public that fuel supply will last through end of April. 

Marquez acknowledged one source of relief: fuel cards worth P2,000 each from businessman Ramon Ang's Petron, arranged through Rep. Claudine Bautista Lim (DUMPER Partylist). 

He said he planned to distribute the cards to LTOP officers in Regions 3 and 4 on Monday, though the group was still working through paperwork requirements before more could be released.

Drivers hit hard

Wednesday's planned action would be the third major transport disruption in less than a month. 

PISTON, a separate transport group, launched the first two-day strike on March 19-20. A broader coalition staged another round March 26-27, with some 500,000 drivers joining from across the country. LTOP had planned its own strike for March 24 but pulled back after the government promised a fare increase and P10,000 in subsidies, but these are promises Marquez now says are largely unmet.

At the root of the problem, Marquez argued, is the oil deregulation law — the same law that politicians pledged to revise during the last election but never touched. 

The government regulates fares for ships and planes, Marquez pointed out, but lets fuel prices move freely.

"Marami pong mga nangako sa atin nung mga politiko nung nakaraang eleksyon na iyan po ay ire-revise na nila," he said. "Pero nasaan ang pag-revise?" (Many politicians promised us during the last election that they would revise it. But where is the revision?)