NEWS BRIEFS

Pantawid Pasada cards

FINALLY, Cebu jeepney drivers will start getting their Pantawid Pasada Cards for a P1,050 fuel subsidy from the government.
The distribution will start today at 9 a.m. at the SM Parking area.

Land Transportation Office (LTO-7) Director Raul Aguilos said the cards will be given to the heads of jeepney organizations or cooperatives like the Cebu Integrated Transport Services Cooperative (CITRASCO) and the Visayan United Drivers Transport Service Cooperative (Vudtrasco), who will then distribute the cards to their members.

First parties will sign a covenant to obey traffic rules for road safety, said Aguilos. Cards for the rest of the franchise holders for Cebu will be distributed next week starting Monday at the same venue.

Aguilos said Central Visayas has around 11,000 franchise holders of jeepneys . Cebu has 6,900.

Distribution for other provinces will follow as soon as the rest of the cards arrive. Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan

P11-M payment

PHARMACY owners visited City Hall yesterday to follow up collection of P11 million in unpaid medical stocks ordered for the city’s free medicine program for the poor.

But St. Bernard Mayor Rico Rentuza and his wife Myrna went home disappointed. They city government couldn’t say when payment would be released since the Commission on Audit had suspended payments due to lack of documents from City Hall.

The Rentuzas last month pulled out of the city’s free medicine program due to delinquent accounts for Pro-Inay (P9 million) and Pro-Poor (P2.2 million) pharmacies.
The city program benefits indigent residents under the City Hospitalization Assistance and Medicines Program (Champ).
“I hope we won’t be caught in the middle of the fight between the city government and COA,” Myra told Cebu Daily News. /Correspondent Fatrick R. Tabada