LTFRB shifts to P10 per liter fuel subsidy

As service contracting concludes

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board is shifting to a fuel subsidy program of P10 per liter as the LTFRB budget for the service contracting program has been exhausted after five weeks.

“We only work on the budget available and we all know that we only have P800 million allotted because when the 2025 budget was crafted, there was no crisis yet,” LTFRB board member Greg Pua Jr. said.

He added that while the LTFRB has requested for a budget, it is “leaning toward shifting to the fuel discount to ensure that many transport jeeps, UV Express and all transport denominations will be included in the subsidy that the government will give.”

The LTFRB said 141,724 passenger jeepneys and UV Express are qualified for fuel subsidies in 4,299 participating gasoline stations nationwide. 

Earlier, the Department of Transportation requested for an additional budget of P5 billion for service contracting.

Pending its approval, Pua urged local government units to implement their own service contracting programs, citing the examples of Naga and Baguio cities as well as Cebu province that are working on a memorandum of agreement.

Transport groups have said that the fuel subsidy barely covers the fuel taxes that they want scrapped.