THE Department of Interior and Local Government yesterday released P134 million for the government’s “Pantawid Pasada” under the Public Transport Assistance Program.

DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo said the amount was distributed to 16 regional offices for implementation of the government’s fuel subsidy program for the transport sector.

Some 896,024 certified tricycle franchisees nationwide are named beneficiaries of the total amount of P134,403,600 to partly help with their average fuel consumption.

“While there was a slight decrease of oil prices this week, still, this subsidy would spell a big difference to our tricycle franchise owners who just rely on daily boundary earnings to support their family,” Robredo said.

PTAP, which was created under Executive Order No. 32 issued by the Office of the President, is an urgent intervention aimed at cushioning the impact of high fuel prices on the marginalized sectors of society.

Of the P134,403,600, Robredo said that the highest subsidy will go to Central Luzon with P33,208,800 for 221,392 tricycle units,  next is Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) with   P28,397,400 for 189,316 tricycles, followed by Metro Manila with P14,698,650 for 97,991 units.

On the other hand, the regions with the lowest subsidy are Caraga with P1,626,150 for 10,841 tricycle units and Cordillera Administrative Region with P1,418,400 for 9,456 units.

Under the program, each tricycle franchise owner shall receive a one-time gasoline subsidy of P150 per tricycle unit.

Robredo urged local government units to provide counterpart funding to help tricycle franchise owners bear the brunt of rising fuel costs.  Joel dela Torre