Senator Win Gatchalian has scored local government units (LGUs) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the long delay in the distribution of fuel subsidy to tricycle drivers.
The delay, Gatchalian stressed, was due to the inaccuracy of the beneficiaries’ names submitted to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
Gatchalian said it has come to his attention that a random check made by the Land Bank of the Philippines showed that a number of those in the list of targeted beneficiaries submitted by the DILG and LGUs did not match with the names of e-wallet account holders.
This prompted the LTFRB to ask the DILG to rectify the list.
Under the DILG Memorandum Circular 2022-047, LGUs were directed to submit a validated list of tricycle drivers, tricycle franchisees, addresses, electronic wallet accounts and number of operating tricycles and other details within their respective jurisdictions.
The details must be prepared and certified correct by the head of the Tricycle Franchising Board and the head of the local Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association (TODA), and certified as well by the city or municipal mayors and vice mayors.
This will ensure that the list forwarded to the LTFRB was correct and legitimate.
Unlike the other beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pasada where the eligible public utility driver-beneficiaries received their subsidies through their existing cash cards, Landbank is supposed to remit the subsidies of non-cardholders like tricycle drivers through e-wallets.
To remedy the situation, the senator was told that the LTFRB and Landbank will issue supplemental guidelines to allow the beneficiaries to claim their Pantawid Pasada or fuel subsidy “over the counter” in any Landbank branches nationwide. They only need to present a valid driver’s license.
“Hopefully, the DILG and LGUs will be able to finalize this week the list to begin the process of distributing the fuel subsidy of P1,000 each to all 617,806 tricycle driver-beneficiaries all over the country,” Gatchalian said.
The distribution of the first tranche of fuel subsidy for the tricycle drivers, originally intended to be distributed last May, was delayed because the DILG submitted its final list only during the second week of June.