MANILA — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will expedite the release of some P2.5 billion in fuel subsidies owed to thousands of tricycle drivers this year, according to Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
Cayetano and the Cabinet met on Friday, two days after a heated exchange during the confirmation hearings of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista at the Commission on Appointments (CA) last week, and agreed to hasten the distribution of fuel subsidies to thousands of tricycle drivers throughout the country.
The independent senator discussed the matter at Bautista’s confirmation hearing before the CA on Wednesday, specifically the P2.5 billion in government fuel subsidies that tricycle drivers should have gotten months ago.
“Tricycle drivers are among the hardest hit by the economic downturn. Most of them are the sole breadwinners of their families, and yet they are the ones neglected,” Cayetano said.
He stated that he and Bautista talked about how the subsidies could be implemented more quickly in order to benefit the tricycle driver sector which is still reeling from high fuel prices, inflation, and the still ongoing pandemic.
The transportation secretary agreed that the distribution could be done by the local government units (LGUs) since these have the experience and capacity to hand out the assistance.
The LGUs also have the list of tricycle drivers in their respective areas, he said.
Cayetano, the CA minority leader, revealed during Bautista’s confirmation hearing that only around 6,000 tricycle drivers nationwide had received their subsidy.
This is a far cry from the 600,000 tricycle drivers that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) had said were qualified to receive the amount.
Bautista had said the delays were due to the unavailability of master lists of registered tricycle drivers in some LGUs, but Cayetano said the various tricycle operators and drivers’ associations – or TODAs – in the country can be called upon to help in the distribution of the subsidy to their respective members.
These transport groups, according to the senator, are among the most organized in the country and have complete lists of their members.
He added that Bautista should bring his expertise as a private sector executive into the DOTr in order to implement changes that will benefit not only the transport industry, but also the nation’s transportation system.
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