Marcos launches new version of 70s’ Love Bus
President Marcos Jr. celebrated his 68th birthday on Saturday by launching free rides for Metro Manila commuters through the new Love Bus at the Valenzuela Gateway Complex in Valenzuela City.
The new Love Bus is a smaller version of the full-sized air-conditioned bus service that the President’s mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, launched in the 1970s when she was governor of the Metropolitan Manila Commission, now the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
Each new Love Bus has a seating capacity of 20 passengers, standing room for 10, but it has designated spaces for four wheelchairs and is equipped with ramps and other accessibility features. They will also be fully electric.
The new service will be operated by the Department of Transportation and the Global Electric Transport, from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., on select routes across Metro Manila.
The new fleet will offer free rides to all persons with disabilities and senior citizens at all times, while ordinary commuters may avail of free rides during peak hours from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Marcos arrived at the venue of the launching aboard one of the Love Bus units, accompanied by first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and their second son, Joseph Simon.
In his speech, Marcos encouraged commuters to take advantage of the free rides until Sept. 30, saying it would ease their burden amid long waiting times and queues for ordinary buses.
“We encourage everyone to take advantage of our new Love Bus to help reduce transportation costs, save a little, reduce traffic, and cut down on pollution since these buses are electric,” he said.
“This is a big help for our situation in Metro Manila. Sometimes, it takes a long time to wait for the bus to arrive. The traffic is heavy, and movement is slow. We’re exposed to the exhaust of the buses. This will lessen all that,” Marcos added.
To access the services, commuters must download and register through the Love Bus mobile app, which is currently available on Android and would be released on the Apple App Store next week, the Presidential Communications Office said.
The President also thanked the local government of Valenzuela for hosting the launch, citing the leadership of the Gatchalian family.
“That’s why we chose Valenzuela in launching the program, because we realize that the people who can make this program better, who can actually run this program, are the gallant leaders of Valenzuela, the Gatchalians,” the President said.
Present during the event were Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Valenzuela Rep. Kenneth Ting Gatchalian, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian and Valenzuela City Mayor Weslie Gatchalian.
