DOTr: Jeepney drivers to receive fuel subsidies by Tuesday, but other modes of transport will have to wait

Jeepney drivers are set to receive their fuel subsidies within the next two days, but other modes of transportation such as tricycles will have to wait until the second quarter as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) cited hurdles in the release.

Speaking before the Senate energy committee, DOTr representative Joemier Pontawe said some 136,000 jeepney drivers will be able to receive the fuel subsidy through their Pantawid Pasada cards within Monday or Tuesday, March 14 or March 15, 2022.

The government has allocated some P2.5 billion to provide fuel vouchers for some 377,000 qualified public utility vehicle drivers across the country

Pontawe said the DOTr over the weekend started preparations with state-run Land Bank of the Philippines for the release of the subsidies, but jeepney drivers will be the first recipients as they already have their cards.

“For the other modes of transportation, para mapabilis po, ang ginagawa namin is kumukuha na po kami ng mga bank information nila, lalo na kung may LandBank sila,” he said.

[For the other modes of transportation, to expedite the process we are already collecting their bank information, specially if they have LandBank accounts.]

“We’re also exploring other distribution mechanisms to facilitate po faster. This is okay for companies na malalaki ‘yung [with a big] fleet or consolidated sila,” he elaborated.

Pontawe said the DOTr is already in coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government for the subsidies of tricycle drivers, and with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for service delivery drivers.

DOTr’s Sherwin Roy Calumba noted, however, that it may take a while for the tricycle driver beneficiaries — estimated at 43,000 — to receive their funds given the need for coordination.

“I think possibly sometime between the second quarter po siguro [maybe], but then again this will be subject to the actual coordination which is ongoing,” he said in the same hearing.

Under the Pantawid Pasada Program, drivers of public utility vehicles (PUVs) are given financial aid to counter the higher prices of petroleum products which have been on an uptrend for the past 10 weeks.

Oil firms are also set to implement a big-time pump price hike could be this week — gasoline to possibly be hiked by P8.28 per liter, and diesel by P12.72 per liter.

Based on the latest data available from the Department of Energy, prices in Metro Manila range from P59.85 per liter (Caloocan) to P84.55 per liter (Muntinlupa) for gasoline, and from P55.20 per liter (Pasig) to P73.39 per liter (Taguig) as of March 10, 2022.

Year-to-date adjustments stand at a total net increase of P13.25 per liter for gasoline, P17.50 per liter for diesel, and P11.40 per liter for kerosene as of March 8, 2022. — RSJ, GMA News