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Elijah Felice Rosales - The Philippine Star
April 16, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Private toll operators are expected to lose at least P10 million in revenues weekly from discounts to public utility vehicles (PUVs).
The granting of discounts is part of measures to cushion the impact of price hikes on drivers and commuters.
Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez yesterday said toll operators have so far issued about P20 million in discounts for PUVs under their program.
The figure covers the first two weeks of implementation of the program that started on March 23 and will last for two months, unless extended upon review.
Lopez said at this rate, tollways are projected to let go of around P10 million in revenues weekly.
Losses could hit as much as P80 million in two months, raising the question of whether operators would be getting something in return.
Historically, regulators return such favors by extending the contract of private concessionaires. In 2024 the private operator of the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) rolled out a toll holiday for 30 days, which cost roughly P300 million in revenues.
In exchange, the Toll Regulatory Board extended the concession for CAVITEX by two months to stem losses from the toll holiday.
This time, Lopez said the toll operators would receive no return favors, as they pledged to issue the discounts for free to partly ease the impact of oil price hikes on transport workers.
“When we asked for help from our toll operators, there were no preconditions,” Lopez said yesterday at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
Both Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and San Miguel Corp. are charging lower toll on PUVs and vehicles assigned to transport essential goods. The program covers Class 1 PUVs, Class 2 public utility buses and Class 3 trucks used for freight.
The discounts will be in place for an initial period of two months, and may be extended subject to review. Based on the adjusted rates, PUVs may get as much as P47 discount per trip, while trucks may save P72.
Discounts are released through rebates, returned to the RFID accounts of PUV and truck drivers on a weekly basis.
At the North Luzon Expressway, public utility jeepneys may avail themselves of the Pasada Pass Program that grants unlimited passage in the open system for a day for just P212.
2-month VAT break
For Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, presiding officer of the House of Representatives’ 13-member Legislative Energy Action and Development committee, a two-month suspension of VAT on oil products “will ease the burden on Filipinos, providing immediate breathing room while the government works on longer-term solutions for this crisis.”
He said the proposal is a feasible intervention, with expected benefits to consumers likely to outweigh potential government revenue losses.
Quimbo added that any forgone revenues could be offset by gains already realized in the first quarter, making the measure a timely and calibrated response.
“We strongly believe that if you reach a particular threshold on the collection of VAT, we might be able to suspend the collection, precisely because we already have a windfall,” Quimbo added.
He admitted legislation would be needed to implement the proposal and that the House would take it up once it resumes session in two weeks.
P70 diesel price cap
Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, meanwhile, has filed a bill seeking to limit to P70 per liter the pump prices of diesel.
Based on his proposed “Diesel Cap Act, the price cap would be supported by a P400-billion subsidy program to cover the gap between the capped retail price and the prevailing international market prices.
Erice emphasized that such intervention has been successfully implemented in other economies facing similar crises.
“In South Korea, fuel prices were capped at around P74 per liter, with government subsidies cushioning the impact of the Middle East crisis. As a result, daily life remained stable, commodity prices did not surge, inflation was controlled and the economy continued to grow,” he said.
