MikeLigalig.com

Malacañang said on Monday that the release of the “Smart cards”, which will be used for the fuel subsidy from the government for public transport owners under the “Pantawid Pasada” program will be released in May contrary to reports that it will be issued today.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda made the clarification during the regular press briefing at Malacanang to enlighten the public on the date of dissemination of the Smart cards for the P450-million fuel subsidy as instituted in Executive Order (EO) No. 32.

Lacierda noted that the Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) of the public transport assistance program was just issued last week. He added that at present the procurement and bidding process are still ongoing so the issuance of Smart cards will be by May 1 or 2.

“Clarification lang, hindi po lalabas yung Smart cards ng Department of Energy sa Pantawid Pasada as Energy Secretary Rene Almendras has already mentioned before the IRR was issued, drafted and finalized last week… the procurement and bidding out of the cards are being done right now. So by May 1 or 2 lalabas po ang Smart card”, Lacierda said.

“I think that information was very clear when they came up with that announcement, so again this is just a clarification…”, he added.

It will be recalled that President Aquino on April 1st signed EO No. 32 that institutes the Public Transport Assistance Program, aptly known as “Pantawid Pasada” to subsidize a portion of the average consumption of jeepney and tricycle drivers amid escalating fuel costs.

The Pantawid Pasada fund will be sourced out from the Special Account in the General Fund (SAGF) of the DOE under Fund 151.

Three government agencies, namely, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Department of Finance (DOF), and the Department of Energy (DOE), were jointly authorized, as per EO 32, to determine the monthly funding requirement of “Pantawid Pasada”.

The Smart cards will carry a load of P1,050 per card (P35 per day) and will be issued to some 268,245 public utility jeepney (PUJ) franchise holders nationwide, while almost one million tricycle drivers will get P150 fuel subsidy each (P5 per day). (PNA)

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=40021.0