Students expected to return to face-to-face classes will get free rides on the Light Rail Transit-Line 2 (LRT 2), President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said.
Marcos announced this during a press briefing on Tuesday, July 5, after holding his first Cabinet meeting.
While the "Libreng Sakay" program for commuters in MRT-3 will eventually be stopped, the free rides will continue in LRT 2 for students, Marcos said.
The move aims to support students who will be returning to schools for face-to-face classes in the coming months as the government is planning to fully resume conducting face-to-face classes in November this year.
"Libreng Sakay continues, as is. That continues. But what we are going to do is we are going to do a program for the students. Because if they come in, we will fully subsidize first their pamasahe," Marcos said.
"We’ll phase it out because we cannot afford to keep that (free rides in MRT-3) going. But students will ride for free on LRT 2, which is going to the university belt," he added.
The President, however, did not elaborate whether the Libreng Sakay program for students is only temporary or permanent.
In the same presser, he also announced his plan to expand the government's fuel subsidy program to include tricycles.