OPERATORS and drivers of around 6,000 traditional and modern public utility jeepney (PUJ) units in Central Visayas are set to receive fuel subsidy from the government through the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) “Pantawid Pasada Program (PPP)” starting this week.
In a text message to SunStar Cebu, LTFRB 7 Director Eduardo Montealto Jr. confirmed that the subsidy amounting to P7,200 will be downloaded to the PPP cards of the eligible drivers and operators of both traditional and modern PUJs.
Montealto said they are granting the subsidy per unit since some drivers and operators own multiple PUJ units.
Montealto further said the card can only be used for the purchase of fuel at participating petroleum retail outlets or gasoline stations.
Using the assistance for other purposes will disqualify the beneficiaries from the program, Montealto added.
“I ask them not to use it for another purpose because they can be blacklisted,” Montealto said in Cebuano.
Montealto said drivers who did not receive or lose their PPP cards must visit the LTFRB 7 office and the Land Bank of the Philippines to know the new guidelines for getting a card.
The subsidy is a national program. It has an allocation of P1 billion from the Development Budget Coordination Committee of the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the LTFRB.
In its official Facebook page, the LTFRB 7 said 78,101 PUJ drivers have already benefited from a past fuel subsidy amounting to more than P500 million.
The fuel subsidy program is the response of the DOTr and LTFRB to the continuing increase of fuel prices that burdens drivers and operators. Providing fuel subsidy to PUJ drivers and operators is not something new for the government. The PPP program has been implemented in 2018 and 2019 in compliance with the provisions of Republic Act 10963 (the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law).