With another oil price hike set to take effect on Tuesday, transport groups are again urging the government to approve a fare increase, saying that drivers have yet to recover from the series of fuel price hikes earlier this year.

MANIBELA chairperson Mar Valbuena said the group is seeking at least a P2 fare increase, arguing that a P1 adjustment would no longer be enough to offset drivers’ losses.

“We want a P2 increase because we have yet to recover our losses since March. We hope the President will approve it. If they had pushed through with the scheduled fare increase months ago, a P1 hike would have been enough,” Valbuena said in a radio interview.

“Our fellow drivers are still trying to recover from the income they lost. Our request has doubled because our earlier P1 petition was filed before the war, and even that was not granted,” he added.

At the height of the tensions in the Middle East, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) had planned fare increases for buses, jeepneys, transport network vehicle services (TNVS), and airport taxis.

However, upon the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the LTFRB suspended the fare hike to cushion the impact on commuters already burdened by rising prices of basic goods.