Rep. Ralph Tulfo urged the national government to channel their savings from the 2022 budgets for the libreng sakay program to ease the load of commuters and those working for micro small and medium enterprises, consdiering inflation and fuel hikes.
Rep Ralph Tulfo, (2nd district, QC) said that he was saddened by the fare increase in public transport.
Tulfo noted that he is aware that this is necessary for drivers and operators to keep up with the continuous increase in oil prices hence it is a burden to the poor, working people, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
With the LTFRB's fare hike decision, a big value was extracted from the minimum wage amid the continuous impact of inflation on the budget of Filipino families.
Tulfo also noted that there is a shortage of free rides with rails now limited to students and the free fares on some units of EDSA bus carousels.
He also emphasized that workers in Quezon City 2nd District are tired of using bicycles or walking just to get to their places of work.
In line with this, he asked the national government to put their efforts to allocate a budget this 2022 in the Libreng Sakay Program and return savings to the general fund of the National Treasury so the Department of Transportation (DoT) take the additional budget for Libreng Sakay Program and service contracting in buses and public utility jeeps (PUJs)
Tulfo appealed to different national government agencies to make a small sacrifice by giving up their 2022 savings in support of the Libreng Sakay Program due to the limited free rides for students on the light rail to cushion the effects of rising transportation fares, fuel prices, and inflation.
He is also concerned about the dependents of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who expect remittances from their family based in North America and Europe. With this, kababayans in the said countries are suffering from higher inflation and interest rates than the Philippines.
Inflation in the United States of America (USA) is at 8.3 percent while in parts of Europe inflation is at over 9 percent. The economic challenges might temper some of the remittances they send to their dependents. However, remittances from other parts of the nation such as the Middle East, East Asia, and South East Asia could make up for the difficulties in North America and Europe.
Tags: #RepTulfo, #inflation, #librengsakay, #2022budgetsavings