The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced that its Service Contracting Program (SCP) will end at midnight Friday after its allocated funds were fully utilized.
“The last day and last hour of our Service Contracting [Program] is on May 22, 12:59 AM”, LTFRB Chairman Vigor Mendoza II said in a DZMM interview on Thursday.
The agency said the remaining funds for the SCP have been exhausted, prompting it to shift support to the P10-per-liter fuel discount program, which it said is expected to benefit a wider range of stakeholders.
“We are requesting for additional funds. [For now], we will focus on [the P10-per-liter discount] because we will not be able to pay the operators anymore. Our initial fund is already consumed [for the Service Contracting Program],” Mendoza pointed out.
LTFRB reported the SCP ran for five weeks with a total budget of about P740 million nationwide, covering about 15,000 public utility vehicles (PUVs), including buses, jeepneys, and UV Express units.
It estimated that more than five million passengers benefited from the program, which provided fare discounts ranging from 20% to 40%.
Mendoza said it is the only program in recent years where passengers directly benefited, adding that continuing the SCP would have been preferable due to its impact on commuters such as workers and students.
He added that the replacement P10-per-liter fuel discount program is expected to provide relief to drivers and operators, while the LTFRB continues to seek additional funding to sustain passenger subsidies under the SCP.
“That is why we are requesting additional funding [to the government] for the Service Contracting Program so that, somehow, our passengers can still receive a discount,” the LTFRB official said.
