MANILA (UPDATE) - The Department of Budget and Management said on Thursday it has provided P1.285 billion under the 2023 budget of the Department of Transportation to fund the government's Service Contracting program which implements the LIbreng Sakay for the EDSA Busway System.

This is in line with R.A. No. 11936 or the 2023 General Appropriations Act signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the DBM said in a statement.

“May pondo po ang Service Contracting Program sa ating FY 2023 GAA. Naglaan po ang pamahalaan ng Php1.285 billion para maipagpatuloy ang programang ito ngayong taon,” DBM Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said.

The Libreng Sakay program is a joint project of the DOTr and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to ease the burden of rising prices for commuters.

The DOTr meanwhile said it is studying how to use the money given by the DBM as it is much smaller than the P8.4 billion that was allocated for the program in 2022.

“Sec.[Jaime] Bautista gave instruction to provide several policy options on how to implement the limited budget by operators, drivers and most importantly commuters not only from EDSA but nationwide. In the meantime, DOTr instructed LTFRB to already process the reportorial documents needed to request the said budget from DBM,” ayon kay DOTr Usec. Mark Steven Pastor.

LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III meanwhile said the agency is just waiting to receive the announced budget for the resumption of the free ride program.

“Pagbaba po ng budget sa amin, pupulungin namin ulit ‘yong dalawang (bus) consortium and we will start again with the program ng libreng sakay. Hopefully po libre na naman ang sakay and we will stretch the fund para maabot po ‘yan ng July o August,” said Guadiz.

As of Dec. 27 last year, a total of 164,966,373 passengers availed of the program, data from the LTFRB showed.

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