Marcos halts fare hike as gov’t hands drivers ₱5,000

The President called it “not right” to raise fares now — but the fuel crisis hasn’t gone anywhere.

The fare increase was supposed to take effect this week. It didn’t.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stepped in to defer the hike, citing international instability, particularly ongoing geopolitical tensions that have contributed to rising global oil prices, and commuters bracing for the next round of bad news. Instead of higher fares, the government rolled out free rides on selected Metro Manila routes and began distributing ₱5,000 in cash aid to drivers starting March 17. The money is meant to cushion the blow of rising fuel costs without passing the burden to passengers.

The Trigger: Oil, Again

This is not the first time global oil markets have held Filipino commuters hostage. Crude prices have been climbing, driven by geopolitical friction in the Middle East. As of early March 2026, the Department of Energy reported continued increases in global oil prices, with local oil firms implementing multiple rounds of fuel price hikes in recent weeks. Diesel and gasoline prices have risen significantly, adding pressure on transport operators. Every time the price per barrel ticks upward, it ripples through the entire transport chain — from the refinery to the pump to the jeepney driver calculating whether his daily boundary still makes sense.

Transport groups had been pushing for a fare adjustment for months. Their argument was straightforward: fuel costs have gone up, but fares have not. Drivers were absorbing the difference, which meant thinner margins, longer hours, and more pressure on households already stretched thin. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has consistently held off on approving fare increases, citing the need for further economic impact studies by the government’s economic planning agencies.

But Marcos pulled it back. His reasoning was political as much as economic — raising fares during a period of international tension would look like piling on. And yet, the problem that justified the hike in the first place has not been solved. Fuel is still expensive. Drivers are still squeezed.

What the ₱5,000 Actually Buys

The cash aid is not nothing. For a jeepney driver earning ₱500 to ₱800 a day after expenses, ₱5,000 is roughly a week’s take-home pay. It can cover a few tanks of diesel, a delayed payment, or a buffer against the next price spike.

But it is also a one-time payout. Fuel costs are ongoing. The ₱5,000 might buy a driver some breathing room. After that, the math goes back to what it was before: rising costs, frozen fares, and the choice between working longer or earning less.

The free rides, meanwhile, are a gesture — visible, immediate, and temporary. They help commuters on specific routes for a limited period. They do not change the underlying equation.

What This Means for Your Commute

If you take public transport in Metro Manila, your fare stays the same for now. That is the headline. The fine print is that “for now” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

Deferring a fare hike does not eliminate the pressure that caused it. Fuel prices have not dropped. Driver incomes have not improved structurally. What the government has done is bought time — for itself, for commuters, and for drivers — without addressing the reason the hike was proposed in the first place.

Which means the conversation will come back. Maybe in a month. Maybe in three. And when it does, the same arguments will surface: drivers need relief, commuters cannot afford higher fares, and someone has to absorb the cost of oil that the Philippines does not produce and cannot control.

The ₱5,000 aid helps in the short term. It does not solve the long-term problem, which is that the transport sector runs on fuel we import and fares we regulate, and those two realities are increasingly hard to reconcile.

Editor’s Take

Marcos made the politically safe call — no one wants to raise fares during a crisis. But deferring a problem is not the same as fixing it. The ₱5,000 is a buffer, not a solution. Drivers still face rising costs. Commuters still face the threat of future hikes. And the government still has not answered the harder question: how do you run a transport system that depends on global oil prices without passing every shock to the people who can least afford it? Sa totoo lang, we are just kicking the can down a very expensive road.

Sources
Marcos defers fare hikes: ‘Not right’ amid int’l crisis — Inquirer
Gov’t offers free rides on selected routes in Manila on Thursday — Inquirer
Over 59,000 drivers receive P5,000 cash aid — Philippine Star
OIL MONITOR as of 10 March 2026 — Department of Energy
No PUV fare hike yet as LTFRB awaits DEPDev study — Philippine News Agency
Tricycle, jeepney drivers to get P5,000 fuel subsidy starting March 17 — Philippine Star