Provincial buses are now exempt from tollway fees on all expressways in the Philippines under a policy directive issued by the Marcos administration, reducing overhead costs for bus operators amid rising fuel prices triggered by the Middle East conflict, Transportation Senior Undersecretary Steven Pastor said Saturday.
Pastor made the disclosure in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on August 29, as part of the DZRH SONA 2026 Series featuring the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
He said the toll exemption for provincial buses is a direct response to the oil price surge, designed to ensure that bus operators do not pass the additional burden entirely on to passengers through higher fares.
“Bilang mandato po sa’min ni Secretary Banoy, ay libre po yung tollways ng ating mga provincial buses para po mapagaan yung overhead expenses ng ating mga operators, lalo na po ngayon na nagtataas ang presyo ng gasolina dahil na po sa Middle East conflict natin,” Pastor said.
Transportation Secretary Giovanni “Banoy” Lopez said the DOTr also took additional steps during the oil crisis, directing the Philippine Ports Authority to reduce RoRo terminal fees to just ₱1 for vessels carrying agricultural products, easing the cost of moving food from farms to markets.
“Nung nagkaroon tayo ng problema dito sa oil crisis natin, ang PPA po, yung sinasabi nating RoRo terminal fee as high as 560 to 600 pesos po, we just asked them one peso terminal fee RoRo para makatulong para sa mga agri products natin,” Lopez said.
He said both measures—the toll exemption and the RoRo fee reduction—represent non-cash subsidies that lower the cost of transportation without requiring a direct cash outlay from the national budget.
Lopez also noted that agricultural trucks are separately exempted from toll fees, ensuring that the cost of moving farm products to markets is not inflated by transportation overhead that would ultimately be passed on to consumers.
