Pangilinan seeks probe into LTFRB’s flagged budget

Drivers of traditional jeepney of a local operator in San Juan City check their respective vehicles in June 2020, as the LTFRB allowed UV express units and traditional jeepneys to ply their routes in Metro Manila with the easing of the quarantine status. INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Francis Pangilinan on Thursday called for an inquiry into the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)’s utilization of its Service Contracting Program budget.

“Noong Mayo pa lang nanawagan na tayong bilisan ang paggamit sa pondong ito. Ngayong na-expire na ang Bayanihan II, kapiraso pa rin ng pondo ang ginagastos para sa mga drayber na nawalan ng pagkakakitaan,” Pangilinan said in a statement.

(Last May we appealed to hasten the usage of their fund. When Bayanihan II’s effectivity lapsed, we find that only a fraction of the budget was used to help drivers who lost their livelihoods.)

The Commission on Audit (COA) recently flagged the LTFRB for utilizing only one percent of its P5.5-billion fund for the Service Contracting Program which seeks to benefit public utility vehicle drivers.

Proposed Senate Resolution No. 861 shall order the appropriate committee to investigate the LTFRB’s implementation of the program.

Pangilinan explained that actions must be swift as the country is in “emergency mode.”

For its part, the LTFRB on Wednesday defended that the one-percent usage only covers December 2020.

Pangilinan countered that on June 30 this year, only P1.5 billion of the budget was released to beneficiaries and for the systems manager procurement.

The legislator noted that the transport agency must explain their negligence on drivers.

“Bilyun-bilyon pondo ang nilaan, bilyun-bilyon ang dapat sana napakinabangan, pero dahil sa mabagal na pagkilos at implementasyon, ang mga drayber at kundoktor ang nagdurusa,” Pangilinan concluded.

(Billions of funds were allocated, billions could have been taken advantage of, but because of the slow action and implementation, the drivers and conductors suffered.)

EDV