Despite the scheduled hike on the Expanded Value Added Tax starting this week, passengers of Ceres buses in Oriental Negros will be pleasantly surprised to find a reduced rate on their bus tickets.

Samson Gargaritano, manager of the Vallacar Transit-owned Ceres bus liner in the province, said they are cutting down their current fare by 10 centavos per kilometer effective tomorrow.

The reduction is for the benefit of the riding public in view of repeated price increases last year and the impending hike on EVAT now, Gargaritano said. "We want to lessen the burden of the local passengers," he added.

The rate reduction is also geared at boosting the local transportation industry, which Gargaritano admits, has not been doing well recently. Traveling activities in Oriental Negros have reduced as a result of increasing gasoline prices, which led to inflation and the reduced purchasing power of the peso, Gargaritano said.

How long the reduced fare will last will depend on the behavior of the price of diesel fuel in the world market, he said.

Gargaritano also said he is studying the possibility of trimming down the number of their trips and bus units in the province.

To date, the Ceres bus liner in the province operates 110 buses from what used to be a total of 120. "But I plan to return six units to our central office in Bacolod next week because I can't afford the amortization anymore," Gargaritano said.

He said some trips might also be cancelled.

The liner currently maintains 160 trips a day to all destinations in Negros and Cebu.

Transport and labor groups across the country have earlier announced that they have no plan to ask for a new fare and wage hike so as not to give additional burden to average wage earners and their families.

The expected full implementation of EVAT next month is seen to further program the government's fiscal stabilization in 2006.

The initial implementation of the enhanced VAT last year resulted in many beneficial effects for the economy, including the strengthening of the peso, reduction of the fiscal deficit and grater investor confidence in the country.

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves has been spearheading an information campaign to prepare consumers for the implementation of a two-percentage-point increase (from 10 percent to 12 percent) in VAT by this week.*RG

back to top