Several transport cooperatives in General Santos City staged a transport holiday on Thursday, March 26, 2026, to protest the suspension of provisional fare increase and the delayed release of fuel subsidies.

Tricycles were seen operating mostly in the city after four transport groups stopped operating for a day, including the Metro GenSan Transport Cooperative, which kept all 123 of its traditional and modern public utility vehicles in the garage.

The group said it was dismayed by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s decision to suspend the implementation of the fare increase approved by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

“Naa na man untay fare increase nagkasa ang LTFRB, in kaso ang katung nahitabo, bigla lang gi-declare ni pangulong Marcos ikansela so, dismayado ang transport cooperative, tungod nag-agulo nami sa pagsaka sa fuel natu,” Metro Gensan Transport Cooperative Admin Supervisor, Rio Villamor, said.

The group added that the fuel subsidy promised to them is yet to be released, as of this writing.

The groups initially planned to join the nationwide transport holiday earlier in the week but deferred their action to give authorities time to release the subsidy.

“Imbes nga nga kato’ng Monday naa na untay transport holiday nga mahitabo nationwide pero kami, mi-suspend mi kay nihatag mi og higayon nga basig pa diay og mahatag sa amua Monday to Wednesday kaso kagahapon, wala lang gihapon,” Villamor added.

LTFRB-12 said the fuel subsidy is still being processed. The agency also explained that the delay is due to the large number of beneficiaries nationwide.

“Yung list of operators natin, na-submit na sa Land Bank and then, baka sa dami ng number of operators, it’s like around 187,000 nationwide. ‘Yan yung reason for the delay, hindi agad-agad nadala sa kanila ang fuel subsidy,” LTFRB-12 Director, Atty. Pablito Benedian Jr., said.