The Muntinlupa City Council has approved an ordinance granting the request of tricycle operators and drivers in the city to increase fare by P1.
In their regular session on March 14, councilors agreed to increase the tricycle fare in Muntinlupa from the current P9 to P10 per person.
Under the ordinance, sponsored by Coun. Baldomero “Ting” Niefes, the tricycle fare will be hiked to P10 per person for the first four kilometers and an additional P1 will be imposed for every additional kilometer.
The measure was approved to help tricycle drivers in the city cope up with the oil price hike in the country brought about by global effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month.
The Federation of Muntinlupa Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association (FEDMUNTODA), the umbrella group representing different TODAs in the city, earlier requested the city government’s Tricycle Regulatory Unit (TRU) and the Muntinlupa City Council through the Committee on Transportation to increase the fare per person from P9 to P10.
Oil companies in the Philippines increased the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene due to increase in prices in world markets amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said on March 8 that even before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine started, the price of oil had been increasing due to lack of supply in the world market.
Cusi said the budget for the Pantawid Pasada Program, a subsidy program for public utility drivers, will be increased from P2.5 billion to P5 billion.
In an interview with CNN’s “The Source,” Cusi said the Department of Energy is also looking at ways to help tricycle drivers.