OVP's Libreng Sakay program to continue

The Office of the Vice President's (OVP) free bus ride program will continue, even though that of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) already ended on December 31, 2022.

In a message to reporters on Wednesday, the OVP confirmed that there would be no changes in the operations of its Libreng Sakay, which was launched in August last year together with DOTr.

A total of five buses were initially allocated for this initiative—two of which were deployed in Metro Manila, one in Davao City, one in Cebu, and one in Bacolod.

Vice President Sara Duterte earlier said these buses were lent to them by the private sector during the campaign period.

The OVP decided to deploy the buses instead in different parts of the country to support the DOTr’s Libreng Sakay under the government’s nationwide service contracting program.

Duterte’s spokesperson, Atty. Reynold Munsayac, earlier said the OVP’s free ridership program would be implemented in the next six years, and they would also try to add more buses to pass through other routes, like in the Commonwealth area.

The Libreng Sakay program of the DOTr and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) was launched in late 2020 under Republic Act 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act to help commuters and those in the public transport sector affected by the pandemic.

It was extended until December 31, 2022, by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

The LTFRB said Wednesday that the Libreng Sakay in the EDSA Bus Carousel will return either in the first or second quarter of the year.

DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista had said the agency was studying the possibility of bringing back the free rides with a P2.1-billion budget or privatizing the bus carousel’s operation. —VBL, GMA Integrated News