LTFRB wants more oil firms to participate in fuel subsidy program

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Martin B. Delgra on Wednesday, Aug. 29, urged fuel companies in the country to participate in the government’s Pantawid Pasada Program that seeks to mitigate the impact of the tax reform law on the prices of fuel.
Mr. Delgra addressed the media at the Palace on Wednesday morning, Aug. 29, on the government’s Pantawid Pasada Program. He said, “Through the Department of Energy (DoE), we are inviting as many gas stations to participate, para mas malawak yung options ng mga (so there are more options for) PUJ operators.”
For now, the participating gas stations, according to Mr. Delgra are Shell, Petrol, Caltex, Unioil, and Phoenix.
Mr. Delgra said, the challenge now is that there some gas stations have no “POS” (point of sale) facilities that would accommodate the Pantawid Pasada Cards as mode of payment.
“One of the things we had discussed with the DoE during the technical working group committee meeting was precisely to address this issue. We wanted to clarify with them if these participating gas stations have POS,” he said.
Mr. Delgra stressed that the Pantawid Pasada Cards, which are being distributed and monitored by the Landbank of the Philippines (LBP), are for “fuel purposes only.”
“The use of the card has to be consistent with the mechanics of the program. The way to monitor the program is that you have to use that in the participating gas stations for buying fuel. As mentioned in the law, it is for fuel purposes only,” he said.
Mr. Delgra said the pilot distribution of the first 10,000 cards began last month in Metro Manila. The regional distribution of cards started this month of August. He also said the target end of distribution is before the end of September this year. — Arjay L. Balinbin