Trinidad folks to gov’t: Continue ‘libreng sakay’

By Cencia M. Marcos

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Residents here at Barangay Alno urged the government to continue its “libreng sakay” program, as the contract of the scheme, which started in June 7, ended June 30.
    The route was from Alno-Alapang to km 5, La Trinidad from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
    The Land Transportation Unit Franchising and Regulatory Board- Cordillera Administrative Region (LTFRB-CAR) announced that La Trinidad was one of routes offering libreng sakay to commuters under the Service Contracting Program on April 11 under the 2022 General Appropriations Act or Phase III with a total budget of seven billion where they coordinated with Baguio Benguet Public Transport Cooperative (BBPTC) to choose 10 class one modernized jeepneys for the program.
    The BBPTC chose Alno-Bahong Cooperative as operator and 10 drivers were recruited who were screened as they severely affected and lost their jobs during pandemic.
    According to the LTFRB, the recruited drivers were subjected to one-time pay-out and weekly payments shall be based on the number of kilometers traveled per week even if they have no passengers which is scheduled to run daily.
    Barangay captain Jonie S. Puroc said since the pandemic started, jeepney operations stopped making citizens resort to colorum vehicles that had higher fares as compared to standard jeepney rates.
    “When we sell our crops to the market, we need to hire a garage and it's expensive. Even our children, they need to wait for a few hours to take a ride. There are students who are going home late because of a lack of jeepneys,” said Neslyn Bugtong, resident in Alno.
    Rene Adoppag, one of recruited drivers, said he was happy as they got more wages per week unlike before when they were short on income due to oil price hikes.
    Erning Binombo, another recruited driver, said in vernacular, “This will benefit the residents of Alno, especially seniors and students. I am grateful for the opportunity because this will help me to provide more for my family. However, there are also challenges faced in this everyday program. We only have two minutes to rest in the waiting area in order for us to achieve our targeted trips daily. This is a bit difficult on our part as it is tiring but we must keep going with the service”
    “We are thankful for this program, This is helpful especially to common citizens like us” said Berly, one of the commuters.
    “At least I can save money. Instead of paying my fare, I can use it for my school requirements,” said Manilyn Baduyen, one of beneficiaries.