Tagbilaran City launches free 

bus rides amid rising fuel costs

By Elvira C. Bongosia

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) — The Tagbilaran City government has launched its “Libreng Sakay” program, offering free rides to lessen the impact of rising fuel prices.

The initiative deploys city buses daily, primarily serving workers and students who depend heavily on public transport.

The program operates Monday through Saturday, with three coasters moving commuters during peak hours — 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Three designated routes — from Barangays Manga, Cabawan, and Bool — connect commuters to key areas in the city and back, using the same drop-off and pick-up points for each barangay.

Mayor Jane Yap said the program is designed as an immediate response to ease commuters’ financial burden while improving access to reliable transportation. She added that it is part of the city’s concrete actions to address constituents’ needs.

“Dili ni pang promisa lang, kini konkretong aksyon aron matabangan ang atong mga commuters sa panahon sa kalisod (This is not just a promise, this is concrete action to help our commuters during this difficult time),” Yap said.

The Libreng Sakay rollout aligns with Executive Order 110, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on March 24, which declared a state of national energy emergency and directed LGUs to undertake measures within their jurisdictions to complement national policies and mitigate the impact of the global fuel supply disruption.

The mayor also revealed plans to expand the program by partnering with jeepney and multicab drivers through a subsidy scheme, pending approval of the necessary ordinance.

“Sa atong mga drivers, kauban nato ani. Dili ni kompetensya, kundi partnership aron mas mapalapad ang serbisyo ug masiguro nga naa gihapon moy kita ug suporta gikan sa atong gobyerno,” Yap added.

(To our drivers who are here with us. This is not a competition, but a partnership to further expand the service and ensure that you still have income and support from our government.)

Commuters welcome the initiative

Commuters said the program helps ease their daily expenses amid rising fuel costs.

“Daku gyud kaayo og help kay mas maka tipid kog kwarta kay di na ko maghuna-huna sa plite (It really helps a lot because I can save more money because I don’t have to worry about the fare),” said Mary Gloriel Sale, a second-year Social Work student at a university in the province.

Sale said she normally spends P85 a day on fare, as her school is in the next municipality. With the Libreng Sakay, she can now ride for free from her home to Barangay Manga, where a school-provided shuttle takes students the rest of the way.

Aiba Cajes of Tagbilaran City said she hopes the program continues, calling it a significant relief for commuters.

The program reflects the city government’s commitment to inclusive, people-centered governance and ensuring residents have access to essential transport services. (ECB/PIA7-Bohol)

Commuters board the Tagbilaran City government’s “Libreng Sakay” bus, a free transport service open to all riders along designated routes. (ECB/PIA7-Bohol)

BM Villamor urges PTDC to convene

stakeholders on new transport rates

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, (PIA)—For the stability of the entire tourism ecosystem here in Bohol, a lady legislator has called on the Provincial Tourism Development Council (PTDC), to immediately convene and rule on an issue that has the potential to explode into a tourism headache: price fragmentation.

Rising to the occasion when the still increasing prices of fuel and the consequent increase in tourism tourist transport rates, service fees and charges, Board Member Jiselle Rae Villamor calls on governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado, and his private sector counterpart of the PTDC to convene the council and start the consultative processes where all tourism stakeholders can join in the decisions on a clear, official and publicly issued price guide for all tourism transport services at the very least.

Villamor informed the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in session this week that there is already a proposed increase in tourist transport rates, a proposal for a 40 percent increase in transport rates, and yet another proposal to only add the surcharges of fuel increase to the transport rates.

At the outset, we recognize and empathize with our transport groups, who just like all of us are facing real and immediate pressures particularly in the sharp rise on fuel costs, she said.

She cited the daily operational realities that shakes sustainability of operations and livelihood.

On the other hand, she also took on the situation of tour operators and tourism partners who face the uncertainty of pricing on their confirmed bookings and the risk of losing tourist trust.

While she shared that there has already been a resolution among stakeholders, she also hailed the PTDC, as a body which is molded under the Bohol Tourism Code, which is mandated to facilitate stakeholders’ consultations to agree on reasonable rates and adjustments based on inflation, service improvements and sustainability and officially issue the new price advisory to ensure pricing alignment.

She shared her fears that without the official, transparent and consultative price guide, tourists are exposed to inconsistent and unpredictable changes.

This is not the kind of tourism that want to promote, Villamor stressed.

To the issue at hand, she hopes the PTDC can urgently convene all stakeholders, translate any agreement into a clear, written and official price guide which is transparent, reasonable and anchored on actual costs drivers like fuel and come up with a public issuance to guide everyone to a single direction.

She also resolved to urge the Provincial Tourism Council to immediately issue a clear, official and publicly disseminated price guide for tourist transport services, pursuant to the Provincial Tourism Code to prevent price fragmentation and ensure order in a deregulated tourism environment. (PIABohol)

CLEAR PUBLICLY ISSUED GUIDE. Amidst the continually rising costs of fuel which affects the costs of local tours, BM Villamor has urged the governor to convene the Provincial Tourism Development Council to start consultations and come out with a reasonable, transparent transport rates to guide the local stakeholders and deter price fragmentation, which bears ill to local tourism. (PIAbohol)