EDITORIAL - Free ride, or taken for a ride?

Some people waiting for the Libreng Sakay program for the Mabolo route got disappointed recently. In a video now going viral, we can see how they were being ignored by drivers of Modern Public Utility Jeepneys during the hours the free ride program was in effect.

Now two operators participating in the government's Libreng Sakay program in Cebu City, JP and Sons Transport Group Inc. and Aleja Fua Rent a Car Corp., have been ordered to explain why they shouldn’t face sanctions.

These accusations aren’t new. In fact, last September 2025, similar complaints arose that drivers of the Libreng Sakay program along the 01K route are no longer stopping for passengers because they are no longer getting incentives for picking up as many passengers as they can.

Back then, Councilor Winston Pepito, chairman of the Committee on Transportation, said he verified for himself that some drivers of these Libreng Sakay program often do just one round trip and chose what time to travel, mostly avoiding peak hours. He also said he saw several of them just sitting in a canteen instead of driving their routes.

But there are more accusations now, and not just against the Mabolo drivers of the Libreng Sakay program. Some passengers said the 01K drivers of the program charge students the full fare amount, leave the terminal even before seats are filled, and charge fare from the passengers they pick up on the road even during the free ride hours.

So what’s their explanation now? Can they say they didn’t see the passengers who needed a ride? We can see from the video that this wasn’t the case. Can they say the area wasn’t a loading/unloading zone? We know most traditional PUJ and Modern PUJ drivers don’t give a hoot about road rules and stop whenever and wherever they please to load/unload passengers.

It’s possible that some drivers don’t care about picking up passengers anymore because they have already been paid under the Libreng Sakay program. But let’s wait for what they have to say.

But barring any satisfactory explanation from the operators and their drivers, they should face the ultimate penalty of losing their permit to operate and license to drive, respectively.