Friday, May 20, 2011

Tricycle drivers to get fuel subsidy

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- An estimated 220,000 certified tricycle franchisees in Central Luzon are set to receive fuel assistance from the government's Public Transport Assistance Program (PTAP).

Lilia Ortiz, chief of the Monitoring and Evaluation Division of Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Central Luzon, said that each franchise owner will get a one-time gasoline aid of P150 per motor unit.

Ortiz added that the total amount of help to be handed out in the region is P33,208,800 -- the highest subsidy given by the program to tricycle operators.

Calabarzon and Metro Manila got the second and third highest subsidy at P28,397,400 and P14,698,650, respectively.

Bulacan will have the most number of motor recipients in Central Luzon with 49,367, followed by Nueva Ecija (49,061), Tarlac (26,028), Bataan (20,627), Pampanga (19,851), Zambales (14,167), and Aurora (4,336).

Ortiz said that based on their guidelines, the DILG regional office shall forge a memorandum of agreement with concerned local chief executives who shall in turn cause the preparation and certification of the list of tricycle franchisees, addresses, and number of operating tricycles.

The list shall serve as reference document in the computation of the subsidy.

Moreover, municipal and city mayors are likewise obliged to conduct a local government-wide information drive on the program, devise a system to effect an organized and orderly distribution of the aid and ensure that only those included in the certified list shall benefit from it and set-up an assistance and complaint desk which shall guide and address the grievances of the beneficiaries.

Created through President Benigno Aquino III's Executive Order 32, PTAP is an urgent intervention aimed at cushioning the impact of high fuel prices on the marginalized sectors of society.

By Charlene Cayabyab

Published in the Sun.Star Pampanga newspaper on May 14, 2011

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