Press Release
February 24, 2019

ANGARA: OVER 80,000 PANTAWID PASADA BENEFICIARIES HAVE YET TO CLAIM FUEL SUBSIDY

Reelectionist Senator Sonny Angara has appealed to more than 80,000 legitimate jeepney franchise holders to claim their fuel voucher cards so they could start availing themselves of the government's subsidy under the Pantawid Pasada Program (PPP).

"Hinihikayat po natin ang mga lehitimong jeepney franchise holder na hindi pa naki-claim ang kanilang Pantawid Pasada card na magtungo sa pinakamalapit na tanggapan ng LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) para makuha na nila ang inilaang fuel subsidy sa kanila ng gobyerno," Angara said.

Angara made the appeal after the Department of Finance (DOF) reported a low turnout in the distribution of fuel subsidy cards to qualified franchise holders of public utility jeepneys (PUJs).

As of January 15 this year, the DOF said that only 74,714 fuel vouchers were distributed out of the 155,337 available cards, or 42.43 percent of the total national target coverage for 176,085 legitimate PUJ units. This means that 80,623 cards remain unclaimed.

The region with the lowest claim rate is Region 10 with only 28.52 percent, while the highest is Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) at 71.64 percent.

Under the PPP, which is one of the government's flagship social mitigation measures, fuel vouchers in the form of cash cards are given to qualified PUJ franchise holders for 2018 and 2019 to ensure that they get timely assistance to mitigate the effects of the volatility of fuel prices in the world market.

The fuel subsidies given to each franchise holder amount to P5,000 in 2018 and P20,514 for 2019, which will be given out quarterly.

Angara urged the PPP beneficiaries who have yet to claim their fuel subsidy cards to immediately proceed to the nearest LTFRB regional offices or the Land Transportation Office on East Avenue in Quezon City for those in Metro Manila.

These offices resumed the distribution of PPP cards last January 7. The LTFRB targets to complete the distribution of the remaining cards by March this year.

Starting Nov. 20, 2018, the LTFRB started accepting special power of attorneys (SPAs), along with other documents, for beneficiaries who cannot personally claim their cards.

The LTFRB targets to release the first quarterly payout of the fuel subsidy for 2019 by end of March. Together with the Department of Transportation and Land Bank of the Philippines, the LTFRB is set to provide the guidelines for the second tranche of fuel subsidy and concerns as to unclaimed PPP cards.

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