Government rolls out P5,000 fuel aid for drivers

MANILA, Philippines — Over a thousand tricycle drivers in Metro Manila received P5,000 fuel subsidy from the government yesterday, with President Marcos leading the rollout of the cash aid aimed at alleviating the impact of the ongoing war in the Middle East on vulnerable sectors.

Marcos was accompanied by Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno during the distribution of cash aid to the first batch of tricycle drivers in Manila.

“It has now begun – for transport workers, tricycle drivers. Everyone in the transport sector would be given aid so that somehow they would have something to help them deal with rising prices,” Marcos said in Filipino during the cash distribution in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

“We’ll be doing more of this while this situation persists,” the President said.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has triggered severe surges in global oil and gas prices.

On the first day of the payout, 550 tricycle drivers in District 4 each received the P5,000 assistance.

The P5,000 fuel assistance also covers ride-hailing motorcycles and cars, taxis, jeepneys and buses.

Speaking to reporters, Marcos said the government is closely monitoring developments in the Middle East. The program aims to benefit 396,352 public transport drivers as well as 135,196 a tricycle drivers in Metro Manila.

The program will go nationwide by April once the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board have finalized the list of beneficiaries.

‘Libreng Sakay’

Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said the government would also be launching a Libreng Sakay program.

“We are doing an inventory of what we can deploy and who can participate,” Recto said. “There will be various modalities. We can deploy government-owned vehicles, for example. Or even contract buses and designate these as fare-free rides.”

Recto said they may also ask local governments that run free bus services to extend their operating hours.

The government also continues to hold talks with oil companies to stagger their fuel price increases.

Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said the public would have further relief from skyrocketing fuel cost with the approval by lawmakers of a consolidated version of proposals to give Marcos authority to suspend excise taxes on oil products.

He said the likelihood of further hikes in fuel prices “should prompt us, members of the House and the Senate, to expedite the final approval of this measure, which PBBM has certified as urgent.”

As soon as the President signs the bill into law, he can already declare a state of national emergency and suspend fuel excise levies.

“That will provide much-needed relief to motorists and consumers in terms of a fuel price reduction of P6 to P10,” he said.

“The amount may be small, given that pump prices will increase again, but the government is providing other forms of assistance,” Romualdez added.

Helplessness

Transport workers interviewed by The STAR voiced helplessness, however. With a child still in school and a family relying on him, 49-year-old taxi driver Rizalde Nonoso said he has no choice but to endure long hours behind the wheel of his taxi and work harder each day to keep up with rising fuel costs.

Nonoso, who has been a public transport driver for over a decade, said he has never received any fuel assistance and expressed skepticism over officials’ handling of funds.

“Without safeguards, it will all be lost to corruption,” he said in Filipino.

Manibela chairman Mar Valbuena expressed hope government aid would finally reach driver-beneficiaries this time. “Some drivers really haven’t received anything ever since,” Valbuena told The STAR.

The Department of Agriculture also revealed cash assistance for four million farmers and fisherfolk next month and in May.

Assistant Secretary U-Nichols Manalo bared the financial aid program at a hearing yesterday by the House of Representatives’ committee on agriculture and food chaired by Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga.

Manalo said the financial aid would come from the P10-billion Presidential Assistance to Farmers and Fisherfolk Program (PAFFP) and the DA’s P150-million Fuel Assistance Project (PAF).

He said 4,172,418 farmers and fishers would each receive P2,325 in May from the PAFFP.

“For farmers who already have an intervention monitoring card (IMC), the money will be deposited directly to their accounts through a top-up. For those who do not have an IMC, the distribution will be handed out through organized caravans specifically for IMC insurance,” he said.

Enverga said his panel wanted to assess preparedness measures being taken by the DA and other relevant agencies “to mitigate the impact of the escalating conflict in the Middle East on our agricultural sector.” — Jose Rodel Clapano, Brix Lelis