PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday announced plans to expand the coverage of the government’s fuel subsidy program to include tricycle drivers.
Marcos, in his first press briefing since he was sworn in as president, said tricycle drivers have been left out of the program amid the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic and the continuous oil price hikes.
“We just discussed that we are going to try not only to continue the fuel subsidy for the transport sector but to expand it to include the tricycles which up to now, have not been included,” he said.
Marcos said the funding for this proposed expanded fuel subsidy program was discussed during his first Cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
He did not elaborate, but assured that there was still enough funding from the current 2022 budget to last this year.
“We talked about the funding, where it can come from, and how we are going to manage the funding for the additional fuel subsidies. We have enough budget I think to last for most of this year and a little bit beyond but we have to find that money if we’re going to continue,” he added.
Late last month, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced that over 600,000 tricycle drivers nationwide will be receiving fuel subsidy.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) started releasing fuel subsidy for other public transport operators and drivers in March. However, the board was waiting for the beneficiary list of tricycle and delivery drivers from the DILG.
