Despite the hardship brought by the increased cost of gasoline, tricycle operators and drivers in the capital town of Virac prefer not to ask for a fare hike for now but appealed to the local government to apprehend colorum tricycles.
In an interview, Federation of Virac Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations (FEDVITODA) President Julius Kristian Carpio said if the tricycle fares are raised, it will be the students and ordinary citizens who will be most affected.
“We don’t want to add to the hardships of families whose children go to school,” he stressed. “Even our own members have sons and daughters who are students.”
He said they cannot do anything about the high price of fuel products so they will have to persevere during these hard times.
“We are not asking for an increase in fares, we just want the local government to somehow ease our plight by going after tricycles and their drivers that operate without approved franchises,” Carpio stated.
This is our number one issue among legitimate tricycle operators and drivers, he added, saying that if just one colorum driver made P500 a day, he would be depriving the TODA members of at least P3,000 a week in income that could have gone to them.
On the other hand, he said, tricycles from other towns also affect the local TODA’s daily take by bringing their passengers to their downtown destinations instead of stopping at their designated terminals.
In a meeting last week, a majority of the 54 TODA presidents who are members of the federation do not want a fare increase but prefer that the LGU crack down on colorum tricycles and out-of-town tricycles who venture into downtown routes outside their terminals.
They lamented that despite their requests to the municipal mayor and the Sangguniang Bayan to apprehend tricycles operating without approved franchises, those flagged at checkpoints are just given citation tickets for the payment of fines.
“Authorities are too lenient when it comes to violators of the Municipal Tricycle Franchising Ordinance,” Carpio emphasized.
However, he admitted that TODAs playing long-distance routes like the coastal areas along the western periphery of the town are asking that they be allowed to accommodate six passengers each, instead of the usual five as required by an existing executive order.
The increasing cost of gasoline means some are no longer breaking even in their daily operation, as a take of P700 at the end of the day is not even enough for a family with a college student.
At present, the FEDVITODA president said downtown fares are still P15 per passenger, with rates ranging from P20 to P25 in nearby destinations, but some passengers who understand their plight are paying a little more.
In an interview with the local media, Virac Mayor Sinforoso Sarmiento Jr. confirmed that there is no approved fare increase for tricycles following a complaint from a student who claimed he was charged P30 for a trip from the Catanduanes State University to barangay Gogon.
He reminded tricycle drivers to adhere to the approved fare matrix and avoid overcharging the public.
At the same time, he appealed to commuters, especially students, to report to the authorities any incident of overcharging for appropriate action by the local government.