No fare increase yet in the City of Koronadal
The City Government of Koronadal has not yet implemented any fare hike to date.
“No fare increase yet in the City of Koronadal,” Committee on Transportation, Energy Conservation and Communication Chairperson Francis Ross Dideles confirmed following the outpouring of complaints regarding the exorbitant fares charged by most tricycle drivers and operators to the riding public.
Dideles further stated that the 2014 Tricycle Fare Ordinance currently remain in forced in the city despite the fare hike proposal submitted by the Tricycle Operators and Drivers’ Association (TODA) to the Sangguniang Panglunsod (SP) and it will be carried out while the city government has not yet approved a new tariff.
At present, the said request is still under thorough study by the committee by means of conducting consultation dialogue with various sectors and stakeholders while waiting for the comments from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) Region XII regarding the matter. Thus, the committee concerned has not yet rendered a committee report to the SP on the subject that is under consideration.
Meanwhile, as a reminder to the TODA and commuters, here is the existing fare matrix in the City of Koronadal.
To ensure proper enforcement of the ordinance each tricycle is required to display the fare matrix and non-compliance of the mandate means violation to the operator/driver and there is a corresponding penalty on it.
Dideles on the other hand, understand the grievances of the transportation sector as they stated in their petition including the ongoing pandemic, the war between Russia and Ukraine as contributory to inflation rate and a series of fuel price hike that also affects their livelihood. Nevertheless, this should not be the basis to charge an unreasonable amount because according to the legislator everyone is affected too by the current situation and that even employees are not exempted considering that there is still no increase in their wages. Hence, it is also not prohibited to ask for additional fare charges but both parties-the driver and commuters should agree on it.
Fare hikes began on the onset of the pandemic and it continues until this date. Nonetheless, abused passengers are advised to get the Motorized Tricycle Operator’s Permit (MTOP) number and have it reported to the Koronadal City PNP traffic section or the Koronadal City Traffic office in cases of violations for the appropriate action.