The government will temporarily suspend their free ride program for workers and service contracting starting July 1.
This coincides with the end of the effectiveness of Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2 law this Thursday.
In a joint statement, the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board explained that the funds paid to the drivers and operators who participated in the program came from the said law.
“Pansamantala po munang ititigil ang pagpapatupad ng Service Contracting at Libreng Sakay Program ng DOTr at LTFRB simula bukas, 1 July 2021… Ito ‘ho ay sa kadahilanang ang pondo na ginagamit pambayad sa mga tsuper at operator na kasali sa Service Contracting at Libreng Sakay Program ay nagmumula sa Bayanihan to Recover as One Act,” according to a statement.
Last week, it was said that the House and Senate leaders would meet with President Rodrigo Duterte and possibly discuss the Bayanihan 2 Law, as well as Bayanihan 3.
According to DOTr and LTFRB, they are trying to resume the program and fund it under the 2021 National Budget: “Currently, the (Department of Budget and Management) is processing its implementation.
Also read: DOTr looking at Bayanihan 2 budget to fund free Beep cards
Free ride for workers to stop once Bayanihan 2 expires
They said the distribution of payouts and incentives to drivers who join their service contracting program will continue.
They said that up to P1.5 billion was distributed to the drivers who participated and that more than 19,000 drivers received the initial payout and more than 8,300 drivers received “onboarding incentives.”
There are 27.9 million riderships under the program.
On Tuesday, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate criticized the Duterte administration for allegedly “sleeping” on the proposed Bayanihan 3.
“It seems that instead of saving lives and alleviating the plight of our people gravely hit by this crisis aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the skewed priority of the Duterte administration is to feed or heal our people with more weapons of death,” Zarate said.
“It continues to turn a deaf ear on the funding needs for the Bayanihan 3,” he added.
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