MANILA, Philippines -- After helping jeepney drivers shift from gasoline to cheaper liquefied petroleum gas (autoLPG), the government will also use revenues from the value-added tax to help tricycle operators do the same, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Saturday.

"When I told Nonoy Andaya about it, he was scratching his head. I told him to place it under the program for engine conversion funded by the Katas ng VAT (revenues from the 12-percent VAT on petroleum products)," Arroyo said at the launch of the LPG conversion program for tricycles in Quezon City.

She was referring to Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya.

"We've had this program Katas ng VAT since June when gas prices were skyrocketing, and subsequently, the government earned additional income. So we're repaying you now," she told the crowd of drivers at the Amoranto Stadium.

Arroyo said the government tapped VAT revenues to fund the conversion of jeepney engines to LPG use.

Arroyo awarded 20 drivers conversion certificates, the first batch of 1,000 beneficiaries, to kick off the conversion program.

LPG is about 50 percent cheaper than gasoline, and hence, converting tricycle engines would translate to bigger savings for the drivers, according to Quezon City Rep. Nanette Castelo-Daza, the proponent of the project.

"Nanette was right to fight for you because you, tricycle drivers, play a big role in the everyday lives of Filipinos. You are multi-purpose; you go into areas that are not traversed by jeepneys or cars," Arroyo told the drivers. "That's why we need to help the drivers so they won?t hike fares anymore."

The conversion project is part of the government's efforts to insulate the poor from the global economic crunch.

"While the prices of gasoline, diesel, and gasoline are going down, we don't know what will happen in the near future. That's why it's good to have this option," she said.

The country imported $8.8 billion worth of oil last year, up from $8 billion the previous year. The total imports reached 120.1 million barrels in 2007. Experts attributed the rise mainly to rising prices in the world market.

Arroyo thanked the bus and jeepney operators in Metro Manila, Central, and Southern Luzon for lowering transport fares in the middle of the month after global oil prices further dipped.

"We should thank all the bus and jeepney operators. This is what's giving us confidence, optimism about the future," she said.