Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez is urging Congress to allocate P5 billion for a 2027 fuel subsidy program, saying the funding was left out of the Department of Budget and Management’s proposed National Expenditure Program even as public utility vehicle drivers and operators continue to face high fuel costs. Speaking during a Senate Subcommittee on Finance hearing on the Department of Transportation’s 2027 budget, Lopez noted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had directed the agency to carry out measures to ease the financial toll of rising oil prices on transport workers, and the requested subsidy stands as a core part of that response. He linked price hikes to ongoing geopolitical tensions, pointing to unrest in the Middle East starting around late February or early March as the trigger for sharp increases in global oil rates that have hit local earnings hard.
Lopez pointed to the P2.5-billion fuel subsidy released in 2025, which was fully used up within just two to three months alongside the rollout of an initial P10-per-liter fuel discount for eligible beneficiaries, as evidence of urgent, widespread demand for such support. He stressed the program delivers critical help across most public transport modes including traditional jeepneys, noting tricycles are excluded because they fall outside the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s scope. With elevated prices likely to carry into next year, Lopez said his department will formally appeal to both chambers of Congress and their finance committees to include the P5-billion allocation in the final 2027 national budget, ensuring continued financial relief for those who need it most.
