Around 15,000 beneficiaries have yet to receive fuel subsidy —LTFRB

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Wednesday said around 15,000 of its beneficiaries have yet to receive their fuel subsidy.

At the Laging Handa public briefing, LTFRB Executive Director Maria Kristina Cassion said the Landbank of the Philippines now has the debit authority covering over 264,000 LTFRB-managed modes.

“May natitira na lang daw po na sabi ng Landbank na mga 15,000 na ipapasok na din nila within this week sa kani-kanilang accounts po,” she said.

(Landbank said there are 15,000 remaining beneficiaries whose subsidies are set to be credited to their accounts this week.)

According to Cassion, the LTFRB returned to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) around 5,000 applications for the fuel subsidy that have been rejected by the Landbank due to invalid accounts.

Cassion said the agency is now coordinating with the DTI on the matter.

Meanwhile, for the subsidies for tricycle drivers managed by LGUs, Cassion said the LTFRB already gave the Landbank a debit advice to credit the subsidy of 68,0000 beneficiaries.

“For the LGU naman na mga tricycles ay nagbibigay na tayo ng debit advice po doon sa Landbank para naman po mai-credit doon sa mga GCash or may 68,000 po na over the counter naman,” she said.

(For the LGUs, tricycle drivers, we already issued a debit advice to the Landbank to credit the subsidy to G-cash or 68,000 beneficiaries which are over the counter.)

Cassion said the LTFRB is leaving it up to the next administration the distribution of the second tranche of the fuel subsidy.

Divided into two equal tranches, the government’s P5-billion fuel subsidy program aims to extend P6,500 cash grants to each of the 377,000 beneficiaries.

These beneficiaries include LTFRB-supervised PUV drivers and operators, tricycle drivers and operators under the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and delivery riders under the DTI.

According to LTFRB, the fuel subsidy program had served as a stopgap measure in lieu of a sought-for minimum fare hike increase amid soaring oil prices. —KG, GMA News