Mini-buses parked outside the private terminal. Photo by Ernie Esconde
BALANGA CITY — Alleged increase in terminal fees prompted passenger vehicles on Tuesday to stop using the private terminal here and started to park in various areas to wait for passengers.
Cris Mira, chairman of the Kaisahan ng mga Sasakyang Namamasada sa Bataan (Kasakbayan) said they were against the increase in terminal fees especially during this time of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bataan transport federation leader said they will not return to the private terminal operated by Park Solutions, Inc. (PSI) if it continues to implement the terminal fee hike.
Mira said the terminal fee to be collected by PSI effective Feb. 1, 2022 was high compared to the fee collected from them at the demolished common terminal owned by government.
Passenger jeepneys, he said, have to pay P35 per dispatch now as compared to the previous P5. For mini-buses, the terminal fee was increased to P75 to P80 per dispatch while for UV Express to P50.
“Nag-aalburuto ang mga tsuper at operator dahil sa sobrang laki ng ipinataw na bayarin ng PSI na ayaw ng mga operators at the same time ayaw ng mga driver dahil masyado silang magugutom,” the transport leader said.
“Alam naman sa panahon ngayon na maya’t maya ang pagsipa ng presyo ng diesel kaya ang kahilingan namin ay ibalik sa dati ang terminal fee at kung hindi ibabalik sa dati ay hindi na kami papasok sa terminal,” Mira added.
He noted that more than 1,000 units of passenger vehicles composed of jeepneys, mini-buses, and UV Express under the Kasakbayan make use of the PSI terminal. He said that even tricycles are complaining of the increase in terminal fee.
“Panawagan namin na ibalik doon sa dating presyo, wala kaming hihilingin. At the same time kung kakayanin ng local government unit, ibalik ang dating public terminal. Ang gusto namin public terminal, ayaw namin ng private terminal,” Mira said.
He lamented that with Bataan under Alert Level 3 from Feb. 1 – 15, “Wala na nga kaming sakay dahil iilan-ilan lamang ang sumasakay, tapos sisingilin kami ng ganoong kalaki.”
No one from PSI was available to comment. It was learned that PSI has not collected any fee since 2018 and it was only in May 2021 that it started collecting.
