Cebu City Hall’s planned expansion of its free bus rides program for call center agents had barely gotten off the terminal so to speak when it was met with both support and criticism which meant that it did make an impact however small it may be on both its intended beneficiaries and detractors.
When told about criticism from a discredited online portal posing as a news site that the free bus rides favored “well paid” business process outsourcing (BPO) workers, Mayor Tomas Osmeña and City Hall officials took pains to explain that other people, notably students attending night classes and other workers like nurses working in graveyard shifts, can also avail of the program.
Regardless of the nitpicking, no one is about to complain about free bus rides most especially the local opposition who voted along with their administration counterparts in the City Council to approve a budget to fund the free bus rides for the “well paid” BPO workers who were rightfully credited with helping boost the city’s economy.
In a way, what the BPO workers and BPO companies are contributing to the city’s economy can be comparable albeit on a smaller local scale to what the overseas contract workers are remitting on an annual basis to the country’s economy.
If there is anyone complaining about the program, no one is voicing it out loud least of all the regional Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) which assured that it is ready to issue a franchise for the city’s buses should the city government consider charging fares for its bus rides.
That possibility cropped up after the mayor admitted that he may consider it after evaluating whether the free bus rides program can be sustained long-term by the city government or not.
It certainly won’t take long for the riding public to catch on with the program and public clamor for free bus rides especially during late hours when jeepney rides are few and far between will be substantial.
As with all initiatives that have good intentions, the pros and cons will have to be assessed and paid rides sponsored by the city may not be taken well by the local operators who see this as encroaching on their livelihood.
But until a viable, mass transport system accessible and affordable to all is set up, the free bus rides offered by the city that is now expanded to hinterland barangays will have to do and local transport officials, operators and critics with nothing else to offer can either get on board the program or justify their cheap nitpicking to the riding public.