OVP deploys 5 buses for the launch of its Libreng Sakay program

MANILA – The Office of the Vice President (OVP) launched its “Libreng Sakay” program on Wednesday to aid commuters in Manila and key cities in Visayas and Mindanao and decongest the roads during peak hours.

The initiative is formally known as “Peak Hours Augmentation Bus Service – Libreng Sakay”, and it was launched concurrently in Metro Manila, Davao City, Cebu, and Bacolod.

There will be two buses deployed in Manila to ply the route from the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) to Monumento from 4 a.m. to 10 a.m and from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., the peak hours in Metro Manila.

“We hope that through this program, we will be able to provide relief to some of our fellow Filipinos who rely on public transport for their daily commute to work, to school, and to many other places,” Vice President Sara Duterte said during her speech for the launching of the buses.

She explained that the buses were lent to them during the campaign, so they opted to bolster the capacity of the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) Libreng Sakay program.

The DOTr will also be the program’s implementing partner agency. During the event, DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista was present.

Duterte stressed that the program “is a demonstration of effective government and private sector collaboration.”

“It will support the national government’s program, and at the same time, it is hoped that this meager contribution will translate to daily savings for our public transport-riding kababayans (fellowmen),” she added.

Duterte hoped that the program would be the beginning of “many more productive collaborations” between the private sector who are willing to share their resources with the public.

These collaborations, she said, are especially important since the country is still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of the global economic crisis caused by the pandemic.

Duterte’s spokesman Reynold Munsayac stated that the OVP will shoulder the expenses for the gasoline, repair, and maintenance of the buses.

Those who lent the buses to the OVP will shoulder the salaries of the drivers and conductors.

Munsayac sought for other private partners to join into a similar arrangement with the OVP.

“Papalawakin natin ito. Gusto natin maraming makikinabang. Mabigat ang pamasahe at maraming talagang (We will expand this. We want more to benefit from it. Transportation costs are a heavy burden and there are really many) commuters,” he said.