THERE was a low turnout during the distribution of the fuel subsidy cards to operators of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) in Cebu.
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 Director Eduardo Montealto said that only 28 percent of the Pantawid Pasada Program (PPP) cards were received by operators out of the 5,000 cards available. Each card contains a subsidy of P5,000.
Montealto found two possible reasons why only a few operators got their cards. For one, some of the cards are still under the name of previous franchise owners. Only the person whose name appears in the card is authorized to claim it.
Secondly, Montealto believes that some operators didn’t want to spend an entire day processing their cards when they could spend that time earning money.
Last Friday was supposed to be the last day to claim the PPP cards for the first batch of beneficiaries.
Luckily, Montealto extended the distribution to Monday. But this has nothing to do with the low turnout but the brownout experienced at the LTFRB 7 last Thursday from 5:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Since the last week of August until last Thursday, 1,537 cards have been claimed out of the 5,354 first batch of cards available.
Montealto clarified that operators who failed to claim their cards could still get them but they will no longer be prioritized.
The second batch of cards, around 7,000 of them, will arrive next week. This includes cards of beneficiaries from Siquijor and Negros Oriental. Most of the second batch of beneficiaries belong to the following transport groups: Cebu Integrated Transport Service Multi-Purpose Cooperative or Citrasco and Visayas United Drivers Transport Service Cooperative or Vudtrasco.
There are over 12,000 beneficiaries of the PPP in Central Visayas, 9,000 of them in Cebu. The rest are from Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental.
The P5,000 subsidy card is valid until Dec. 31. There are authorized gasoline stations all over the region.
According to the Basak Lapu-Lapu City Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association, on the average, a member of the organization earns P2,500 a day. Between P500 to P1,000 of the amount will go to fuel allocation.
Balacjoda is the organization that filed a petition to raise the minimum PUJ fare to P9 from the current P6.50.
The cards will be renewed next year with fuel assistance worth P20,000 for every operator.