Over 10,000 Western Visayas jeepney drivers to get fuel subsidy cards
BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—Drivers of 10,287 public utility jeepneys in Western Visayas will soon receive P1,050 each in fuel assistance under the government’s Pantawid Pasada program.
According to Rey Malleza of Department of Energy’s Visayas Field Office, the Pantawid Pasada cards will be turned over by the DOE to the Western Visayas office of the Land Transportation Office in Iloilo on June 9.
The LTO regional office will then distribute the cards worth P10,801,350 to its field offices throughout Region 6 for release to the drivers, he said.
Ma. Joy Maredith Madayag, Department of Interior and Local Government provincial director, said P150 each will also be distributed as assistance to drivers of franchised tricycles in Negros Occidental, through local government units.
A total of 4,081,950 tricycles will be covered in Negros Occidental—25,400 in the province and 1,813 in Bacolod.
The fuel assistance to the public utility jeepneys and tricycle drivers in Western Visayas comes from the P450 million allocated by President Benigno Aquino to help cushion the impact of fuel price increases.
Qualified for coverage are PUJs with LTO registration and legitimate franchise holders as of March 31, 2011, and tricycles that are registered with the LGUs as March 28, 2011.
Pantawid Pasada cards for PUJ drivers cannot be used as ATM cards, but solely to avail of P1,050 worth of liquid petroleum fuel at gas stations through a one-time purchase, or on a staggered basis, Malleza said.
The card may be used only for the unit with a plate numbers corresponding to the number indicated on the card, he added.
The card may be used at gasoline stations with a sign that says “Pantawid Pasada card accepted here,” Malleza said.
The cards may also be used for any future government assistance until 2016, and as an identification card in availing of transport fuel discounts and other promos for the transport sector to be offered by oil companies starting June 1, he added.
