MANILA – The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is seeking the restoration of the PHP1.756-billion budget for the EDSA Busway in 2027, after the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) allocated zero funding for the system.
Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez made the appeal during the Infrastructure Forum of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines in Makati on Monday, warning that the zero allocation would degrade the system’s operations.
“Kaya we cannot emphasize enough the importance of budget. And again, under the pain of being redundant, ito na nga lang [yung EDSA Busway] po yung nag-iisang land transport system sa Metro Manila, I’m not referring to rail lines, kung saan lamang na lamang ang commuters kaysa private motorists (We cannot emphasize enough the importance of the budget. I know I am being redundant, but the EDSA Busway is the only land transport system in Metro Manila, I’m not referring to rail lines, where commuters have a clear advantage over private motorists),” Lopez said.
He said a single bus carries at least 50 passengers, or up to 70 when standing, compared to a private vehicle that carries only about five.
Since 2020 until August 2026, the EDSA Busway has served over 367 million passengers.
He warned that a lack of funding would mean no salaries for security personnel, unmaintained elevators, and uncertainty over station upkeep.
“In the very remote possibility na hindi mabibigyan ang ating busway, what will happen po sa EDSA Busway project natin next year? Hindi po magiging maayos ang pagpapatakbo po ng EDSA Busway natin, ibig sabihin wala tayong pampasweldo sa ating mga security. The government service po natin will go down, masisira po yung ating mga elevators, hindi natin mapapaayos (In the very remote possibility that our busway is not given funding, what will happen to our EDSA Busway project next year? The operation of our EDSA Busway will not be orderly, which means we will have no salaries for our security. Our government service will go down, our elevators will break and we won’t be able to repair them),” he said.
The DOTr is currently undertaking EDSA Busway modernization, which includes the rehabilitation of stations in Bagong Barrio in Caloocan, Balintawak in Quezon City, and Guadalupe in Makati. New stations will also be constructed in Cubao, Magallanes, and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.
He also presented the agency’s other big-ticket projects during the forum, including the North-South Commuter Railway, Metro Manila Subway, Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7), and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Cavite Extension for the railway sector, as well as airport modernization and maritime port projects.
“Madami pong mga proyekto ang DOTr, napakarami, mahahaba yung ating gestation period for big-ticket projects. But we’re trying to solve po [and] implement our projects one day at a time. Basta po ang habol namin dito, [ay] makakatipid po kayo sa oras ninyo at sa gastusin ninyo, at hindi ito nasasayang dahil lang sa traffic (The DOTr has many projects, very many, and big-ticket projects have long gestation periods. But we’re trying to solve and implement our projects one day at a time. What we are after here is for you to save time and money, and for this not to be wasted just because of traffic),” Lopez said.
In September, he first raised the impact of the zero allocation during a Senate finance subcommittee hearing, warning that about 63 million commuters who rely on the EDSA Busway annually would be the first to suffer.
The Department of Budget and Management had cited tightening fiscal space as the reason for excluding the busway’s funding, along with the Service Contracting Program and the Fuel Subsidy Program, from the proposed 2027 budget. (Raymond Carl Dela Cruz/PNA)
