Barangays back program for clean, low-cost fuel

The Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas, a 42,000-strong organization of local barangays, has thrown its support behind a program designed to guarantee a steady supply of low-cost, high quality fuel to the local transportation sector.

The program, called "Kapakanan ng mga Tsuper ng Transportasyon sa Kabuhayan," entitles Filipino transport cooperatives to derive supplementary income and benefits for its members through a portable gasoline station, which is the country’s and probably the world’s first. The facility, called Portagas, is an innovative concept from FilOil, the major proponent of the program. The vision is to have one Portagas station in every district nationwide.

FilOil will provide, set up and operate Portagas, while the Office of Transportation Cooperatives will be called upon to identify and endorse qualified cooperatives to become beneficiaries of the program. The Tinig ng Organisadong Drayber at Operator sa Pilipinas (TODAPilipinas), meanwhile, will provide free accident benefit packages to all participating transport cooperative and association members. It will also actively seek out benefits from private and public entities that will benefit the transport sector. Philhealth’s part is to provide benefit packages to the first 250 qualified cooperative members.

Liga president James Marty Lim says the league always recognizes sensible efforts of making life easier for the Filipinos, especially those in the grassroots. FilOil’s program is a good way to counter the impending oil price hike and will give Filipino consumers the opportunity to get low-priced, quality oil.

Lim pointed out that the mounting oil price issue can be a real burden to the national economy and more directly to the residents of the 42,000 barangays in the country.

Lim has encouraged its barangay chapter members to help secure possible sites, barangay or public, that can immediately take advantage of the program.