1-Rider Party-list Rep. Bonifacio Bosita (Facebook)

1-Rider Party-list Rep. Bonifacio Bosita said that a modern jeepney might need to impose a minimum fare of P30 to P40 per passenger in order for a cooperative to pay off its loan for the vehicle. 

This was bared by Bosita, a House minority bloc member, during the Committee on Transportation's motu proprio investigation on the controversial public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program on Wednesday, Jan. 10. 

Attending the hearing as resource persons were officials from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). 

These are the agencies that mainly oversee the PUV modernization program, the key component of which is the phaseout of traditional jeeps in favor of modern jeeps. But these modern jeepney units can cost a pretty penny, even reaching up to P2.8 million. 

During his interpellation of the transportation officials, Bosita brought the Landbank of the Philippines' (LBP) payment plan for a P2.8-million loan with 6 percent interest per annum. This is payable for a period seven years by the drivers that consolidated into a cooperative. 

“Ang monthly na dapat na ma-raise ng kooperatiba per unit is more than P40,000 or P1,800 or more (per day). Hindi pa po kasama dyan yung fuel, facilities, cooperative management, maintenance, and other mandatory expenses," the rookie legislator said. 

(A cooperative needs to raise P40,000 per month, or P1,800 per day to be able to pay per unit. This does not include fuel, facilities, cooperative management, maintenance, and other mandatory expenses.) 

According to Bosita, the current minimum fare for a modern--P15 per head--simply won't cut it. 

“Kung hindi po ako nagkakamali dito sa aking analysis from P15 na pamasahe sa pampasaherong jeep hindi po kayang ma-implement ito or ma-avail ng ating mga kababayan para bayaran ang lahat ng mga obligasyon sa halagang P15," he said. 

(If my analysis is not mistaken, our countrymen won't be able to pay off all the obligations and avail of the program with a P15 fare.) 

"Based on my personal evaluation, magiging P30 to P40 ang pamasahe ng ating mga kababayan para ma-cover ang mga dapat bayaran...Ang magsa-suffer dito Mr. Chair yung commuters,” noted the party-list solon. 

(The fare of our countrymen will become P30 to P40 in order to cover the payable...it's the commuters who will suffer here, Mr. Chair.) 

DOTr Undersecretary Anneli Lontoc, the overall head of the PUV modernization program, later explained to the House panel that banks approve the loan based on the current fare, which was P15. 

“Yung kooperatiba o korporasyon na nais mag-loan at bumili ng kanilang modern jeepneys, ito po ay pinagsa-submit ng ating bangko at tinitignan base sa ruta na kanilang tinatakbo, magkano ang kikitain araw-araw at kapag nakita nila na kikita, ang bangko po yung nagde-decide kung sila ay pwedeng pautangin, bigyan ng loan para makabili ng modern jeepneys,” Lontoc said. 

(A cooperative or corporation that wants to get a loan for the purchase of modern jeepneys are made to submit details by the bank, and the bank will look at the route, their daily profit. And when they see that they can turn a profit, the bank will then decide to give a loan for the modern jeepneys.) 

Meanwhile, the P2.8-million modern jeepney was also the ceiling in terms of cost; LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III bared during the hearing that local manufacturers of modern jeepneys were offering vehicles for as low as P980,000 per unit.