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Iloilo City transport group losing P100,000 daily from Middle East crisis

Philippines | Visayas

Iloilo City transport group losing P100,000 daily from Middle East crisis

By Tara Yap

MINIBUSES operating in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)

MINIBUSES operating in Iloilo City. (Tara Yap)

ILOILO CITY – A transport group here estimated that they are losing P100,000 a day due to the crisis in the Middle East.

The Western Visayas Transport Cooperative (WVTC) said they are losing the amount operating 95 minibuses in the regional capital.

The WVTC is set to reduce the number of minibuses operating per day following the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to postpone the fare hike on Thursday.

“Daku-daku na ang amon pierdi nga kwarta (We are losing so much money),” WVTC President Raymundo “Boyet” Parcon said.

Parcon said they cannot afford to run 95 minibuses and still survive when each of them has to pay P102 to P110 per liter of diesel when the minimum fare is pegged at P15.

Transport cooperatives operating the minibuses under the country’s modern transportation initially wanted to raise the minimum fare by P7 to P22.

Parcon noted that the P2 fare hike or P17 minimum fare would have minimized the negative impact.

But the situation worsened when Marcos made an abrupt announcement on Wednesday, March 18, that the March 19 scheduled fare hike would be postponed.

Parcon admitted he was very angry upon hearing the announcement. “Kon tani, klarohon nila paano kami buligan sang gobyerno (They should make it clear how the government will help us),” Parcon said.

Long before the Middle East conflict, WVTC has been in debt since operating in 2022 when Iloilo City started implementing the country’s modern transportation program to phase out traditional jeepneys.

Related Tags

Iloilo City Middle East conflict

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