THIS week, authorities announced that EDSA Carousel rides would again be free as soon as the 2023 budget for service contracting (about P1.285 billion) is released. Offering the rides for free, however, is not a sustainable solution. It is not the best use of limited financial resources and it can result in more harm than good. It will also perpetuate the wrong notion that service contracting is the same as "libreng sakay" or free rides. It is not.
The government needs to view service contracting as part of a longer-term and continuing reform rather than a temporary or emergency measure. Clearly, "libreng sakay" will make service contracting very short term. If the EDSA Carousel is offered for free, the service contracting budget of P1.285 billion will be used up in less than four months (103 days if, for example, 500 buses were paid P25,000 each daily). Using up the service contracting budget as quickly as possible with "libreng sakay" is inconsistent with the objective of introducing a stable, reliable service on the country's most important corridor.
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