MANILA, Nov. 27 -- The Senate has increased the 2026 budget for the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) to PHP2.5 billion, nearly doubling the allocation to strengthen nationwide route rationalization and technical planning under the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

During Thursday's deliberations, Senator JV Ejercito, sponsor of the DOTr budget, said the Senate raised the PTMP allocation from PHP1.3 billion in the original General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

"For the PTMP, under GAB, it has given a budget of PHP1.3 billion. But through the Senate's intervention, we increased it to PHP2.5 billion. So halos na-doble po natin (we nearly doubled it)," he said.

Ejercito added that the additional support would help address long...