‘The ongoing oil crisis brought about by the war in the Middle East has shown how decades of underinvestment in road-based public transport and active transport has left our public transport system vulnerable and has significantly burdened the majority of Filipinos who take public transport, walk and bike.’
Transport advocates urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Congress on Tuesday to restore the funding for public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure in the proposed 2027 national budget.
The Move As One Coalition said the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2027 provides no funds for several transport programs, including the EDSA Busway, service contracting, fuel subsidies, and road safety, while sharply cutting allocations for public transport modernization and active transport.
“A supermajority — 94 percent — of Filipinos do not own cars; 94 percent support the construction of safer, wider bicycle lanes and walkways. Why are their mobility needs not reflected in the proposed NEP?” the coalition said in a statement.
The coalition said the budget was at odds with the Marcos administration’s stated transport goals and the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 which says “pedestrians and cyclists will be accorded highest priority in the hierarchy of road users.”
The group said the EDSA Busway, which received P88.7 million in funding in 2026, would get no allocation under the proposed 2027 national budget. Service contracting, which had P1 billion in 2026, would also have zero allocation, it said.
Fuel subsidies for transport drivers would fall to zero from P2.5 billion, according to the coalition.
The proposed budget for active transport would also be cut by nearly 68 percent.
The group had previously called for increased funding for walking and cycling infrastructure, noting that the national budget for active transport infrastructure had fallen sharply from P2 billion in 2022 to P105 million in 2026.
It said the cuts were particularly concerning amid the rising transport costs.
“The ongoing oil crisis brought about by the war in the Middle East has shown how decades of underinvestment in road-based public transport and active transport has left our public transport system vulnerable and has significantly burdened the majority of Filipinos who take public transport, walk and bike,” it said.
The coalition said transport inflation surged to 9.9 percent in March 2026 from minus 0.3 percent in February, contributing to a 4.1-percent overall inflation rate that month.
The group urged President Marcos and Congress to restore funding for public transport, active mobility, and transport reforms as lawmakers review the proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget.
“The coalition urges President Marcos and the members of the 20th Congress to take the 2027 NEP as an opportunity to make good on the administration’s commitment at the start of its term in 2022 —one that remains unfulfilled to this day — to invest sufficient funds in public transport, active mobility, and transport reforms and build a transportation system that is more responsive to the needs of the majority and more resilient to future crises,” it said.
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