Drivers express frustration on government subsidy

DRIVERS in Negros Occidental have expressed their frustration over the government subsidy Or the Pantawid Pasada Program of the Department of Energy (DOE).

Diego Malacad, secretary-general of United Negros Drivers and Operators Center, said they do not expect that such subsidy would be given to them, based on their previous experiences.

He said they heard P1, 000 subsidy will be released for each driver, which will be given through the cash cards.

However, he said that until now, they didn’t receive the cash cards because they heard that the database used for the verification of the drivers is not yet available up to this time.

"We don't expect it anymore because that was also promised to us before, but it was realized due to several justifications made by the government,” Malacad said.

In 2011, the DOE rolled out Pantawid Pasada, or Public Transport Assistance (PTA) program with the transportation, finance, and interior departments, to cushion the high fuel prices caused by the Middle East oil crisis.

The Commission on Audit (COA) had flagged DOE about the pending review of the P300-million program, but the letters were left unanswered for several years.

In its 2017 report, COA said that DOE "took no action" to submit the necessary documents to evaluate the fuel subsidy program. The documents had been pending since 2013, the last time funds were allocated for the program.

Among the requirements were the fund utilization report, fund loading by the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and the inventory of the cash cards given to jeepney drivers.

This means that it's not clear how the P300 million was used, and how many cards were loaded with cash.

DOE partnered with BPI and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) for the rollout of cash cards to be given to jeepney drivers.

These cards were used as debit cards, with an initial load of P1, 050 and reloaded P1, 200 to buy petroleum products.

Malacad said they have not received even a single centavo out of the program. (TDE)

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