Palace: Don't put malice on gov't's 'Libreng Sakay'

Malacañang on Thursday called on the public not to put malice on the free rides being offered by the Marcos administration in observance of Labor Day.

''Ang May 1 po kasi International Labor Day po ito. Hindi naman po natin puwedeng ibigay ito sa mga manggagawa sa December. So, tama lamang po sa panahon kung kailan dapat isini-celebrate po ang Labor Day, doon lamang po natin ibigay,'' Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said in a briefing.

(May 1 is an international Labor Day. We can't offer this to workers in December. So it's just right that we give this to them on Labor Day.)

''Huwag naman po nating bigyan ng malisya, hayaan po nating makinabang iyong taumbayan sa mga maaaring itulong ng gobyerno sa kanila,'' Castro added.

(Don't put malice on this. Let's allow the public to benefit from the government's assistance.)

On Tuesday, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. announced free MRT 3 and LRT 1 and 2 rides for commuters in observance of Labor Day.

Marcos said the Libreng Sakay would be offered from April 30 to May 3 to honor the contributions of the labor sector.

Castro said the free rides were offered for four days so that a lot of commuters would feel this benefit since May 1 is a holiday.

''Kasi po, kung May 1 lang po ibibigay, karamihan naman po walang pasok so hindi naman po nila mararamdaman iyong benepisyong matatanggap po nila,'' she said.

(If this will only be given on May 1, a lot of commuters have no work so they will not feel this benefit from the government.) —VAL, GMA Integrated News