MANILA — Public utility jeepney (PUJ) operators and drivers will get their Pantawid Pasada cards starting July 17.
This, as transportation officials have decided to provide a lump sum subsidy of PHP5,000 to 179,852 legitimate PUJ franchise holders for this year.
The government decided to do away with providing a subsidy of PHP833 over a six-month period in order to reduce administrative bottlenecks, LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III said.
“We want to make it simple because we are seeing bottlenecks in terms of filling up the forms and other procedures at the same time we have advised Landbank the amount that will be reconfigured from a monthly subsidy — buo na (it will be given in full). There will be some adjustments that will be done in their system,” Delgra said in an interview with reporters during the launching of the implementation of the Pantawid Pasada Program held at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Quezon City Thursday afternoon.
Pantawid Pasada is a fuel subsidy program for jeepney operators and drivers that seeks to mitigate the impact of recent oil price hikes and higher excise taxes due to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr), LTFRB, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Energy, and the Landbank of the Philippines (LBP) have signed a joint memorandum circular on the fuel subsidy program last Wednesday.
Pantawid Pasada cards will be provided to the beneficiaries and processed by the LBP. Beneficiaries will sign a deed of undertaking that the voucher cards will only be used for purchases of petroleum products at gasoline stations.
The government is aiming to distribute around 10,000 cards for the initial implementation.
A budget of PHP977 million will be allocated to the fuel subsidy program for the next six months of 2018. For next year, around PHP3.86 billion will be allocated to provide a PHP20,515 yearly subsidy according to the DBM.
The fuel subsidies will cover the incremental increases on the excise tax on diesel under the TRAIN law.-PNA
