MANILA, Philippines — The representative of food delivery riders decried the sector’s underrepresentation in the recipients of fuel subsidies by the government.
Charles Punsalang, who represents food delivery and motor taxi riders in the National Public Transport Coalition (NPTC), said thousands of riders have yet to receive their fuel subsidy.
“Yung mga ayuda po natin, ang daming food delivery riders na hanggang ngayon ay umiiyak … dahil ni singkong sentimo hindi sila nakatanggap,” Punsalang said in a press briefing in Manila.
(As for the cash aid, so many food delivery riders are crying until now… because they have not received even a centavo of aid.)
Punsalang also pointed out: “Libo-libo po ang ating delivery rider sa buong Pilipinas, pero bilang na bilang lang po ang nabigyan po dito.”
(There are thousands of delivery riders in the Philippines, but there are very few of them who received aid.)
The NPTC, in their manifesto dated May 17, also said this applied to other drivers of other public utility vehicles.
“Fuel subsidies, like COVID-19 pandemic subsidies, were only given to a select few,” their manifesto stated. “The vast majority of us have yet to receive any form of assistance.”
The transport coalition also decried the “lack of transparent and reliable distribution system” in the distribution of cash aid.
“It is nearly impossible to verify the recipient of a subsidy,” the manifesto also pointed out.
Latest available data from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) indicated that 110,287 jeepney and bus drivers out of 264,578 qualified beneficiaries received P6,500 in fuel aid.
READ: Comelec spares PUV fuel subsidy release from ban
The government had earmarked P3 billion in fuel subsidy for the PUV drivers reeling from runaway fuel price hikes due to the conflict in Ukraine.
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