President Marcos has ordered the suspension of the impending fare hike, saying this is "not the time" to increase fares.

In a video message on Wednesday, March 18, Marcos said he has ordered the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to suspend the fare increase.

"Sa aking palagay, dahil nga eh, may problema pa rin tayo dahil sa giyera sa Middle East, ay sabi ko, siguro hindi ito ang panahon para magtaas ng pamasahe para sa ating mga kababayan (In my view, since we are still facing problems because of the war in the Middle East, I said that this is probably not the time to increase fares for our fellow citizens)," Marcos said.

"Kaya't inutos ko sa DOTr na suspendihin muna ang fare hike at i-defer muna natin 'yan. I-postponan muna natin 'yan dahil nasa gitna ngayon tayo nitong sitwasyon na ito na kailangan ay patuloy ang ating pag-alalay sa ating mga commuter, sa lahat ng ating mga manggagawa, estudyante, lahat ng gumagamit ng ating transport system (So, I instructed the DOTr to suspend the fare hike for now and to defer it). Let’s postpone it for the time being because we are currently in the middle of this situation where we need to continue supporting our commuters— all our workers, students, and everyone who uses our transport system)," he added.

The President assured transport workers not to worry, as the government will ensure that they "will act quickly and increase support" to the transport sector.

He also ordered the DOTr to begin free rides across the Philippines and implement discounted fares at the MRT and LRT.

"Pwede po ninyong gamitin muna 'yan para pangbawas gastos sa pang-araw-araw (You can take advantage of this to help reduce your daily expenses)," Marcos said.

The Chief Executive ordered discounts on toll roads "so that the public will pay less for using them."

"Huwag pong mag-alala ang ating mga transport workers dahil ah mamadaliin po namin, dadagdagan po namin ang suporta sa inyo para naman ay hindi kayo masyadong mahirapan (Our transport workers should not worry because we will act quickly and increase our support for you so that you will not have too much difficulty)," he said.

"Kahit na may malaking gulo na nangyayari ay basta't kaunti lang ang mararamdaman o sana man kung kaya naming gawin sana walang mararamdaman ng ating taong bayan sa kanilang araw-araw na pagtrabaho sa ating mga estudyante na araw-araw pumapasok (Even though there is a major conflict happening, we aim to ensure that our people feel only minimal impact—or if possible, none at all—in their daily work and for our students who go to school every day)," Marcos said.

He further said that the government will constantly think of new ways "to ensure that the citizens' lives remain normal, orderly, and safe."

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has approved the petition for fare increase for almost all of the public utility vehicles (PUVs) following the series of oil price hikes.