Land Bank won’t release fuel subsidy – group

MANILA, Philippines — A transport group yesterday denounced the difficulty in claiming the P6,500 fuel subsidy for jeepney drivers, saying many branches of the Land Bank of the Philippines refused to release the money because of the election spending ban.

In a radio interview, transport group Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines president Melencio Vargas cited a personal experience wherein he accompanied an ALTODAP member in claiming the cash card from Land Bank.

“The main branch (of Land Bank) knew that the fuel subsidy is exempted from the Commission on Elections election ban, but many of its branches were not aware,” Vargas said, referring to the election ban on public spending for government projects.

According to Vargas, transport groups plan to talk to Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Teofilo Guadiz to air their grievances on the distribution of the fuel subsidy.

“We expect more drivers will have the same experience, just like our member, when a personnel from Land Bank refused to issue his card due to the election ban,” Vargas added.

Vargas said that Land Bank personnel should not be the cause of jeepney drivers’ further suffering, with the impending increase in diesel prices by more than P2 per liter.

He also said that what the transport groups can do is to wait for the scheduled hearing of the petition on fare hike on Sept. 26.

Vargas added that the transport groups expect the LTFRB to issue a P1 provisional fare hike after the Sept. 26 hearing.

He also called on the government to “finally scrap the oil deregulation law, which has been causing the unabated spike in oil prices.”

The LTFRB started the distribution of the P3-billion subsidy on Sept. 12.

Around 1.36 million beneficiaries will receive the subsidy through e-wallet accounts, bank accounts and fuel subsidy cards, the LTFRB earlier said.

The subsidy is seen to cushion the adverse impact of the continuous rise in pump prices over the last few weeks.