Davao transport groups insist on demand to scrap fuel tax

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—“It’s better than nothing” was how a jeepney operator characterized the Pantawid Pasada fuel subsidy cards whose distribution by the Department of Energy got going here on Wednesday.

Ruben Sang-an, who is also secretary general of the militant Southeastern Mindanao Diversified Drivers and Operators Cooperative (Semddoc), told reporters that the government should do something more than just provide subsidies to drivers and operators.

“Just because we accepted it does not mean we are abandoning our calls to scrap the expanded value-added tax on fuel oil, which is bringing so much suffering to drivers,” he said during Wednesday’s distribution of cards at the SP building.

Edel Gonzaga, secretary-general of Transmission, also a militant group, said the fuel subsidy and other palliative solutions hatched by the government would never solve the rising petroleum pump prices in the county.

“The fuel subsidy is only a waste of government money because it does not offer a long-term solution,” Gonzaga said.

He said that instead of distributing subsidy cards, which costs millions of pesos, the government should “scrap oil deregulation, which only enriches big oil companies while punishing small drivers and operators and public consumers.”

Energy Undersecretary Jose Lapuz Jr. said the government could not afford to bring back regulation and control of the oil industry anymore.

He did not say why but added that the government has opted for a “targeted subsidy approach to cushion the impact of the rising prices of oil to drivers and operators.”

For Davao City alone, Lapuz said, the DOE will be releasing about 7,000 Pantawid Pasada cards.

Each card contains P1,050 worth of “load,” which drivers can claim at accredited Pantawid Pasada gasoline stations. Lapuz said the cards will be good for six months but urged drivers not to throw them away as they could still enjoy loyalty promos, discounts and even Christmas gifts from participating oil companies.

The fuel subsidy, he said, was the government’s response to the unabated increase in oil prices.

He said the government will release a total of 220,000 fuel subsidy cards nationwide, which covers the total number of jeepney and tricycle franchises in the country.

Lapuz said the government has set aside P450 million for the Pantawid Pasada fuel subsidy nationwide, P300 million of which was set for jeepney operators.

“We did not include the bus drivers and operators because they purchase fuel in bulk at discounted prices; we did not include the taxis, which recently increased fares. We specifically targeted diesel users, which included jeepneys and gasoline users such as tricycles,” he said.

He said the DOE will study the petition of some 3,000 multicab drivers here for inclusion to the subsidy program.

Lapuz admitted that world petroleum prices remain volatile and nobody could tell when the high prices would end.

“A simple incident can easily trigger movement in prices, like the protests in Libya which had sent the prices up or the death of Bin Laden, which sent the prices down. It’s difficult to talk about it,” he said.

Lapuz said the government was encouraging operators and drivers to shift to liquefied petroleum gas, which is much cheaper than diesel or gasoline.

He said the government was finalizing an assistance program to finance the conversion of vehicles to LPG fuel.