MORE than 7,000 public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers in Davao Region could avail of the proposed fuel subsidy program of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for them to cope with the rising oil prices.
LTFRB-Davao Director Nonito Llanos III said on Friday, October 29, 2021, during Sunstar Davao's Facebook live program, The Talking Heads, the national government has allocated P1 billion for the planned fuel subsidy program, wherein 7,455 units in Davao Region were proposed to be included in the subsidy.
Llanos said the fuel subsidy is similar to the Pantawid Pasada Program (PPP) that was first implemented in 2018.
"Naa nay gameplan ang LTFRB central office, together with the DOTr, on how to give ayuda and assistance to our affected drivers and operators with regards to the fuel increases," Llanos said.
The LTFRB head noted a fuel price increase for the past weeks but that their office opposes the proposed fare increase as the country is still under pandemic.
"Due to the fact that we are still under a pandemic, a lot of people lost their jobs. So lisod kaayo kung dungagan pa nato ang pag increase sa pamasahe. Murag samot og kaapiki ang atong mga katawhan (It would be an added financial burden if there is a fare increase. The public will struggle more financially)," he said.
The official said this would apply to all types of jeepneys, including filcabs and modernized ones.
He said the fuel subsidy would be given to legitimate franchise holders and drivers of public utility jeepneys.
Llanos said they are still finalizing the guidelines on how the drivers and operators can avail of the subsidy.
He said they are eyeing that the application for the subsidy will be coursed through the PPP cards previously distributed to the drivers and operators.
There is no specific date yet when the subsidy would be distributed as the funds are still being processed, he said.
Meanwhile, Llanos said they are open to a proposal raised by some drivers to increase the passenger capacity in public transport back to 100 percent for them to cope with the oil price hikes. However, he said this is still being studied by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
As of now, there is still no directive in the region regarding the proposal.
