Gatchalian urges LTFRB to hasten cash-aid delivery for PUV drivers

SEN. Sherwin T. Gatchalian pressed the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to fast track the distribution of fuel subsidies to the targeted beneficiaries in the public transport sector.

Gatchalian also said was set to pursue the provision of the third tranche of the government’s fuel subsidy program to provide economic relief to the transport sector reeling from the effects of the successive oil price hikes.

The lawmaker lamented that many public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers already stopped plying their routes, effectively losing their source of income.

“The key here is dapat mas mapabilis natin ang pagbibigay ng ayuda sa kanila dahil time is of the essence,” the lawmaker pointed out.

Presiding at a Senate hearing as chairman of the Committee on Energy, Gatchalian enlisted the support of the LTFRB in their last consultative meeting on mitigating the impact of higher oil prices.

For a start, the senator is mulling over another round of Pantawid Pasada Program amounting to P3,000 per month for the next five months.

He noted, however, that the distribution of the first tranche of the fuel subsidy for public utility vehicle drivers and operators, which was supposed to have been completed within the second week of May, had been “marred by delays due to lack of existing database of intended beneficiaries.”

For his part, LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra informed Gatchalian during the consultative meeting that it was only this month that they were able to complete the database of qualified and legitimate franchise holders after the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) submitted the list of eligible tricycle drivers.

It was noted that as of June 16, the total credited fuel subsidies stood at 232,586 or 88 percent. The Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), he said, had committed to remit the remaining 31,992 to account holders this week.

Gatchalian, in turn, asserted the need to quickly “build payout systems to guarantee the prompt and accurate cash transfers as well as accessibility to the government financial assistance.”