The Department of Transportation will finish paying the government’s fuel subsidy to around 600,000 tricycle drivers by mid-January 2023, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said Tuesday.
At a Commission on Appointments hearing, Bautista said the DOTr had already instructed the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to coordinate with local government units to complete the distribution of the fuel subsidy.
“We are expecting that we will be able to pay around 60% by end of the year and we will endeavor to complete the full payment by middle of January 2023,” he said.
Divided into two tranches, the government’s P5-billion fuel subsidy program aims to extend P6,500 cash grants to beneficiaries to help them recover from the high prices of fuel.
Bautista said they had encountered some problems in getting more information but currently, they were able to pay more than 20,000 tricycle drivers.
Meanwhile, the DoTr wants to create designated bus lanes akin to the EDSA Carousel in major thoroughfares in Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Metro Manila, such as Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
Bautista made this remark when Senator Risa Hontiveros asked at the CA hearing why EDSA is the only thoroughfare that has a dedicated bus lane.
“I think we need to have more dedicated bus lanes. We in the road sector are now discussing the possibility of having dedicated bus lanes in major thoroughfares like Quezon Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue, and other areas in Metro Manila with wide roads so we can provide faster transportation,” the DoTr secretary said.
“Like the EDSA Carousel from North Ave. to Ayala (runs in) less than 30 minutes. I believe we also need to do this in major cities not only in Metro Manila but also in Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro,” he added.
Hontiveros expressed delight with Bautista’s statement, saying the government can adopt and apply the best models in Jakarta, Indonesia, which already designated 388 kilometers of roads as bus lanes.
In June, the former leadership of the Department of the Interior and Local Government had identified a total of 617,806 qualified tricycle drivers nationwide who will receive fuel subsidies from the government, to be distributed in three batches.
The first batch is for the 539,395 trike drivers who were able to provide an e-wallet account, according to the DILG.
The second batch will be the 73,233 drivers who will avail of the over-the-counter transactions at the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) branch nearest to them.
Meanwhile, the third batch will cover 5,178 drivers who will avail of on-site payout at the LGUs, the DILG earlier said.
