ILOILO City – Public utility vehicle (PUV) operators and drivers will soon receive fuel subsidy, according to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
LTFRB chairman Atty. Teofilo Guadiz III yesterday said the fund is already being processed by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).
“The DBM (Department of Budget and Management) has already downloaded the money with Land Bank. Kung hindi pa natatanggap it’s probably because the bank is taking time to process everything – because there are about 1.36 million beneficiaries. You should understand hindi naman po kaya ng Land Bank sabay-sabay i-process ‘yan,” said Guadiz.
He added: “What we can assure you is that the money is already in the bank. Bigyan lang ng konting pagkakataon ang Land Bank para mai-download ‘yung pera.”
PUV operators and drivers may expect to receive the subsidy by Friday, Sept. 15, Guadiz said.
“As of this afternoon, may 50,000 beneficiaries na po of the 280,000 pinpointed beneficiaries ng LTFRB [ang na-process], so we expect probably to finish this by Friday,” Guadiz said yesterday.
In Western Visayas, the LTFRB has begun notifying identified groups of public transport for the distribution of the national government’s fuel subsidy, according to LTFRB-6 legal counsel Atty. Salvador “Jun” Altura.
Memorandum Circular No. 2023-038 issued by Guadiz on Sept. 5 sets the guidelines on the implementation of fuel subsidy project pursuant to Republic Act 11936, or the General Appropriations Act of 2023.
“The continued rise of fuel prices in the world market has greatly affected the public transportation sector; thus, it’s deemed appropriated to provide assistance to such public stakeholders by implementing the Fuel Subsidy Project,” read part of the memorandum circular.
Who are covered of the fuel subsidy?
Altura said the fuel subsidy will include transport groups within the jurisdiction of LTFRB and those under the national government agencies such as the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Here are the denominations within the jurisdiction of LTFRB and with valid Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) or Provisional Authority (PA):
* public utility jeepney and FilCab services
* UV Express service
* mini-bus service
* public utility bus (PUB) service
* shuttle service
* taxi service
* tourist transport service
* school transport service
* transportation network vehicle service
Tricycle and delivery services, which are outside the jurisdiction of the LTFRB, shall be governed by the guidelines set by concerned agencies within the respective jurisdiction.
Considering that the purpose of the project is to mitigate the impact of fuel price hikes, all other authorized denominations that are non-fuel powered, i.e., electric, LPG, and CNG, are deemed excluded from the project, the memorandum circular further stated.
Notifying identified denominations of the fuel subsidy project is a measure for beneficiaries including operators or drivers, cooperatives, and corporations, to prepare the requirements, such as their CPC or PA.
Altura clarified that the validated and final list of beneficiaries will come from the LTFRB central office.
“Sa babaw na ang determination tapos on the basis on their determination sila na [referring to LTFRB central office] ang ma-download sa participating Land Bank branch tapos i-furnish ang list. On our end, we will endeavor to notify sa kon sin-o ang ara sa lista,” explained Altura.
He added: “We do not know kon pila ni ang maka-qualify per region kag kon ma-qualify, pila ang entitlement sa ila.”
Preparation of list of qualified beneficiaries
Under the guidelines, the LTFRB central office and the Regional Franchising and Regulatory Offices (RFROs) shall observe the following steps:
* Within five days from the effectivity of this memorandum circular, all RFROs are directed to submit to the Information Systems Management Division (ISMD) the validated list of qualified beneficiaries in their respective jurisdictions following the required template prescribed by the latter. The said list shall be certified correct by the regional director.
* Within five days from receipt of the certified list, the ISMD shall classify those beneficiaries:
a. With existing and valid Pantawid Pasada Program (PPP) cards;
b. With PPP cards considered by LBP as purged/inactive accounts;
c. With existing and valid fuel subsidy (FS) cards;
d. Without FS cards yet;
e. With bank accounts for direct crediting of the subsidy, particularly PUBs, mini-buses, and tourist transport services.
* The ISMD shall issue an advisory on the classification of beneficiaries to all RFROS. The RFROS, in turn, shall immediately inform their respective beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries without valid/active PPP and FS cards, or bank accounts, regardless of denomination, shall be issued new FS cards.
Processing of fuel subsidy
* After identification, the ISMD shall submit within three days the list of qualified beneficiaries to LBP.
2. The LBP shall process the crediting of the appropriate amount of the fuel subsidy to the qualified beneficiaries.
* Upon the advice of the LBP, the Central Project Management Team (CPMT) shall inform the beneficiaries nationwide of their credited subsidy.
* In case a qualified beneficiary cannot personally claim the fuel subsidy, the following guidelines shall be observed:
a. The beneficiary may designate a representative duly authorized with a Special Power of Attorney (SPA).
b. In case the beneficiary is already deceased, the heir must present a death certificate and extra-judicial settlement with waiver of rights in their favor or affidavit of self-adjudication.
c. If the CPC has already been sold, the vendee shall present the original copy of the notarized deed of sale of the CPC and a photocopy of a valid identification card (ID) of the vendor.
Conditions on fuel subsidy card use
* All qualified beneficiaries shall strictly use the fuel subsidy for fuel payment/purchase only.
*The operator shall allow drivers to use the FS/PPP cards for refueling or ensure that the PUVs are sufficiently refueled prior to operations.
* For those subsidies directly credited to their bank accounts, the concerned operators shall ensure that the PUVs are sufficiently refueled before being operated by their drivers.
4. A deed of undertaking executed by the concerned operators and covering the conditions on the use of the fuel subsidy card shall be required by LBP.
Penalty for violation of circular
“Ka-klaro man kay tawag sina fuel subsidy, ibakal sang gasoline ukon krudo,” Altura said.
The memorandum states that “Should the beneficiary use the fuel subsidy card to withdraw cash at the automated teller machines or pay for goods other than fuel, the card may be blocked, and the account may be closed.”
Accordingly, the LTFRB shall issue a show cause order for the erring beneficiary.
Further, failure of the operators to allow their authorized drivers to use the fuel card for the intended purpose as defined herein shall be considered a violation of this circular.
In such case, the authorized driver may file a written report on the matter, which shall be given due course by the Board.
Appropriate fines, as provided under DOTr Joint Administrative Order No. 2014-01, shall be imposed against those beneficiaries found violating the provisions of this circular, including the blacklisting of the beneficiary from receiving subsequent fuel subsidies.
“May mechanism man on how to file a complaint and may undertaking man ang operators if they violate the provisions, they will suffer,” said Altura.
He added: “Bilang sabat sa ila pangamuyo, ang aton gobyerno ara na nagpagwa sang P3 billion nga pundo, i-release na sa qualified nga benepisyaryo para maka-avail sang fuel subsidy.”
There are more than 1.36 million beneficiaries who will receive a one-time fuel subsidy.
Data from the LTFRB showed that 280,000 PUV operators and drivers will get the one-time cash grant from the agency.
Cash assistance for the 930,000 tricycle drivers will be processed by the DILG while DTI and DICT will take charge of the assistance for the 150,000 delivery service riders.
Around P10,000 each will be distributed to modern PUJ and modern UV Express drivers, while P6,5000 each will be given to drivers of other modes of transport.
Tricycle and delivery riders will receive P1,000 and P1,200, respectively. (With a report from Philippine Daily Inquirer)/PN
