By Brian Campued
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. assured the riding public that ferry and bus fares would remain unchanged ahead of the Holy Week, in which a large number of passengers are expected to travel.
According to a Presidential Communications Office (PCO) news release Tuesday, Marcos Jr. shared that ferry and bus operators have made a commitment not to increase fares amid the rising fuel prices and possible threat to the country’s energy security caused by the Middle East conflict.
“We’ve gotten commitments from ferries that they will not raise their fares, we’re doing the same thing with buses that they will not raise their fares and they do not limit or cut down the trips they will be taking,” the President said in an interview with Bloomberg.
“We’re doing everything we can so the riding public, the general public, the people who are working, the middle class, they are the ones we are most concerned about, so it does not become a drag to their livelihoods,” he added.
The Chief Executive likewise emphasized the government’s efforts to cushion the impact of the global oil crisis on Filipinos, especially the public transport sector.
This as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) started the rollout of fuel subsidies to operators and drivers of various public utility vehicles (PUVs), with bus operators getting P10,000 for each bus unit they own while bus drivers receive P5,000 each.
“We’re going to be spending about P2.5 billion in fuel subsidies. We have planned four of those rounds of subsidies,” the President said.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), on the other hand, recently distributed P5,000-worth of cash relief assistance to tricycle and transport network vehicle service (TNVS) drivers in Metro Manila, with distribution still underway for jeepney drivers, delivery riders, and motorcycle taxi drivers.
-jpv
