After a series 11 straight weekly fuel price hikes, increases implemented by petroleum companies in the country, DILG XII Regional Director Josephine Cabrido-Leysa, CESO III acted quickly, knowing well that all of the employees and personnel who report for work at the Prime Regional Center in Barangay Carpenter Hill, Koronadal City will be greatly affected.

Most of these employees use the public transport but others commute using their own vehicles like motorcycle or cars. “Well, imagine travelling that long distance from the city proper to the Regional Center, twice in a day: you are doing 15 kilometers. It could go higher if you live in the outskirts of the city. With the ballooning fuel price, I believe that we need to have some ‘alleviating measures’ just to cushion the effect of the price hike to our own personnel” the director explained. “Consequently, there had been some price increase in many basic commodities and the impact to each individual employee can be quite heavy,” RD Leysa added.

Indeed, Department of Energy (DOE) data showed that as of March 15, 2022, the net increase had been P20.35 per liter for gasoline, P30.65 for diesel, and P24.90 for kerosene. The world oil prices remained to be volatile, made worse by the Russian attack on Ukraine.

Upon the RD’s instruction, the regional management arranged the use of two vehicles to ferry passengers to and from the Regional Center in a designated pick-up point in the downtown area.

“The ‘Libreng Sakay para sa mga kawani ng DILG Dose’ runs from Monday to Friday and it has officially started on March 21.  We have the designated meet up point located in front of East West Bank in Gen. Santos Drive. So we expect our passengers to be there at 7:15 to 7:30 in the morning and in the afternoon, all these vehicles leave the Regional Office XII at 5:15 to 5:30,” Rd Leysa elaborated further.

As a result, an average of 14 personnel availed of the free morning rides everyday with 24 personnel in the afternoon.

One unnamed personnel thanked RD Leysa and the regional management for “Libreng Sakay para sa mga kawani ng DILG Dose” scheme for the big help, “especially when it rains in the afternoon”. The free-ride scheme, ‘Libreng Sakay para sa mga Kawani ng DILG Dose,’ still continues up to this day, more than a month after it was implemented.