By Executive Secretary Ralph Recto
Upon orders of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., government will step on the gas of its P5,000 fuel assistance distribution to public transport drivers, which will cover ride-hailing motorcycles and cars, taxis, jeepneys and buses.
Two wheels, three wheels, four wheels, six wheels. Basta namamasada susubukan na maisama sa programa (As long as they are operating [as drivers], we will try to include them in the program.
The program aims to help 396,352 public transport drivers in Metro Manila “ease the pain at the gas pump and the pinch on their income.”
Prayoridad ng Pangulo na agad matulungan ang ating mga tsuper na biktima ng kaguluhan sa Middle East. Kaya inilarga na agad ang tulong-pasada na ito.
(It is the President’s priority to immediately help our drivers who are victims of the conflict in the Middle East. That is why this fuel subsidy [“tulong-pasada”] was launched right away.)
The first payouts began on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, with 135,196 tricycle drivers getting theirs through the joint efforts of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and local government units (LGUs).
Under their division of labor,” LGUs will set up the payout sites eligible tricycle drivers can go to.
Following this initial rollout, the program will extend to TNVS drivers, motorcycle taxi drivers, bus drivers and jeepney drivers in Metro Manila.
The program will go nationwide by April once the DSWD, DOTr and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board have finalized the list of beneficiaries.
The government will launch a Libreng Sakay Program so that commuters, especially students and workers, can save money amidst the rise in the prices of basic goods.
We are doing an inventory of what we can deploy and who can participate.
There will be various modalities. We can deploy government-owned vehicles, for example. Or even contract buses and designate these as fare-free rides.
We can ask also LGUs who run free bus services to extend the operating hours.
Ang mahalaga, pag naipon ang lahat ng mga ‘yan, malaki ang maitutulong sa mananakay.
(What matters is that, when all of those are gathered/pooled together, it will be a big help to commuters.)