Mario Santos has driven a jeepney through Manila's streets for 23 years. This month, for the first time, he finished three consecutive days in the red.
"Lugi na ng P1,000 kada araw," he said, using the Tagalog word for loss. One thousand pesos daily - gone, as diesel prices hit ₱150 per liter and passenger numbers drop because commuters can no longer afford the fares that would make his route viable.
Across the Philippines, drivers like Santos are facing an impossible calculation. Modern jeepneys, which the government has pushed operators to purchase as part of a fleet modernization program, cost more to run. With fuel prices surging, drivers must choose between operating at a loss or parking their vehicles and forfeiting the loans they took to buy them.
Senator Risa Hontiveros told the Senate on Monday that the transport sector faces paralysis unless the government acts immediately. "We badly need concrete transport solutions - way beyond the suspension of excise taxes," Hontiveros said. "The ₱5,000 transport subsidy is a good start, but it is insufficient and must be expanded."
Hontiveros has filed Senate Bill No. 1986, proposing a ₱52.8 billion transport subsidy package, including ₱12 billion specifically earmarked for public utility vehicle drivers, delivery riders, and transport network vehicle service operators. The bill would also expand service contracting programs that allow transport cooperatives to operate more efficiently, keeping drivers on routes rather than waiting for subsidies to arrive.
But the crisis goes deeper than fuel prices. The government's jeepney modernization program, launched to replace aging diesel vehicles with cleaner, more efficient units, has pushed drivers into debt. The new jeepneys cost between ₱1.8 million and ₱2.4 million, and many drivers financed the purchases with loans they are now struggling to repay.
"The government tells us to modernize, then fuel goes to ₱150, and suddenly we can't make payments," said , a cooperative manager in .
