Public transportation drivers must demand for the cash aids and subsidies not released by government officials but paid for by the public through their taxes.
Partido Reporma standard-bearer Ping Lacson and his running mate, Senate President Tito Sotto III, gave this advice Tuesday to about 200 stakeholders from the public transport sector who engaged in a dialogue with them at the Dagat Cusina Gubat restaurant along Diversion Road in Candelaria, Quezon.
Lacson and Sotto talked about how they worked on the enactment of Bayanihan I and Bayanihan II during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping the appropriated budget for the social amelioration packages of the affected sectors would reach them on time.
The longtime public servants, however, found out from the Candelaria TODA members that they, too, have not yet received their share on the P5.58-billion allocation to aid public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers under the Bayanihan II before it lapsed.
“Go to your barangay chairman, go to your mayors as a group, because if you’re going alone, you might just get ignored. It is better if you remain organized through your TODA. Claim your cash assistance because that’s yours,” Lacson said.
Lacson applied the same guidelines with respect to the P2.5-billion fuel subsidy, which the government is expected to roll out following the consecutive fuel price hikes at the world market triggered by global events.
“So, once we earmarked P2.5-billion or P3-billion fuel subsidy for you, demand for it. Don’t just remain silent when it doesn’t come. That attitude is wrong, too. Fight for it because it was not given to you. It came from your taxes, too, and you need to claim it because it is what was stated under the law,” he added.
Sotto, for his part, said the proper implementation of the laws that he and Lacson helped pass during their combined 42 years of legislative track record is something that they both want to ensure should they both receive the people’s mandate to serve as their next leaders.
Lacson explained that while he and Sotto spent over four decades as senators, they don’t have the authority to execute the laws that they themselves have authored, and the least they could do at the moment is to press on the executive officials and agencies tasked to implement them.
“If we are given the opportunity to lead, only then can we have a role in the implementation, and we guarantee—because we were the ones who enacted the laws, we know the importance of these legislations—they will be implemented,” he said.
Joining the Lacson-Sotto tandem in their meeting with the Candelaria TODA members was Partido Reporma senatorial candidate Dr. Minguita Padilla, who also presented her campaign platforms primarily focused on the improvement of the healthcare industry in the country.