With continuous oil price hikes:
Drivers’ Income Still Low Despite Fare Hikes, and Sinks Still
How much
has drivers’ income changed since April, the last time a transport strike
was held before the Sept. 12 strike?
BY
ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
How much has drivers’ income changed since last April, the last time the
Pinag-isang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (Piston or
united nationwide association of drivers and operators) held a transport
strike before Sept. 12?
Jeepney drivers, who comprise the membership of Piston, use diesel for
their fuel needs. (The jeepney is the Filipino’s ingenuous improvisation
of the World War II-vintage GI jeep. The modern jeepney seats about 20
passengers.)
Last April, diesel was priced at P26.50 ($0.47, based on an exchange rate
of P56.17 per US dollar) a liter. It is currently worth P31.50 ($0.56) a
liter.
In separate interviews with Bulatlat, Piston president Mar Garvida
and its vice-president for the National Capital Region (NCR) Modesto
Floranda said jeepney drivers consume about 30 liters of diesel and take
in about 300 passengers a day.
Piston president
Mar Garvida
Photo by Alexander
Martin Remollino |
|
At P26.50 ($0.47), 30 liters of diesel cost P795 ($14.15). With the
minimum fare pegged in April at P5.50 ($0.10), a jeepney driver had to
take in 145 passengers just to recover fuel cost. Under the minimum fare
rate as of last April, a driver earned a gross income of P1,650 ($29.37)
daily. Less the P795 ($14.15) spent for diesel and the boundary fee, which
was then P750 ($13.35), the driver was left with P105 ($1.87) in daily net
income.
The average family living wage at that time was pegged at P492.19 ($8.76),
according to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC). In
April 2005, drivers’ income was therefore P389.19 ($6.93) short of the
living wage for a family of six.
How do jeepney drivers fare today?
With the minimum fare currently pegged at P7.50 ($0.13), a jeepney driver
earns a gross income of P2,250 ($40.06), assuming an average load of 300
passengers a day. With diesel priced at P31.50 ($0.56) a liter, a driver
spends P945 ($16.82) daily because he or she needs about 30 liters.
Drivers now spend P900 ($16.02) a day as boundary fee, according to
Floranda, as prices of spare parts also rise with every major oil price
increase.
Given the cost of diesel and the boundary fee, a driver is therefore left
with P405 ($7.21) as net income. This is P196.67 ($3.50) short of the
national average family living wage which now stands at P601.67 ($10.71)
based on August 2005 data from the NWPC. In the NCR, where many jeepney
drivers are based, the daily cost of living for a family of six is now
P677 ($12.05). In the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), it
currently stands at P854 ($15.20).
Continuously rising oil prices, which contribute greatly to steep
increases in the cost of living, are fast negating whatever additional
income jeepney drivers may have secured from the P2 ($0.04) fare hike last
June. The implementation of the expanded value-added tax (EVAT) law, which
covers fuel, is sure to make a deeper dent into their income.
Garvida estimates that it will cost pump prices to rise by as much as P3
($0.05). Bulatlat
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