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HON. BERNADETTE “BH” HERRERA-DY                       
Bagong Henerasyon Party-list
Chair, Committee on Public Information

In reaction to the start of the "Tanggal Bulok, Tanggal Usok" campaign of the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic, the following Press Release is being issued:
SOLON ASKS DSWD, DOTR, LANDBANK TO TAP TRAIN SUBSIDY FUNDS FOR PUV DRIVERS’ CASH TRANSFERS

Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Representative Bernadette Herrera-Dy asked the DSWD and Landbank on Monday to expedite the promulgation of their guidelines for the 2018 GAA tax reform cash transfer subsidy.

The ranking congresswoman also reiterated her suggestion that PUV drivers be included among the beneficiaries of the TRAIN subsidy and the 4Ps conditional cash transfer program.

"To absorb in full or in part the impact of the TRAIN excise taxes on diesel and lubricants, I ask the Department of Transportation, in coordination with the DSWD, to expand the 4Ps to include PUV drivers," Herrera-Dy, Member of House Committee on Social Services said.

She added that "the new CCT program’s first phase should cover all PUV drivers, whether or not the PUV they drive has an LTFRB franchise or not. The sins of the PUV operator must not be the sin of the PUV driver."

"If this expanded CCT is successful, a future phase of the new CCT for drivers can include tricycle and pedicab drivers," she added.

The congresswoman proposed a "refocusing" of the CCT for drivers to differentiate it from the old Pantawid Pasada program.

"Instead of the cash transfer being for fuel purchases, the new CCT for PUV drivers will be more similar to the 4Ps of the DSWD. It will enable them to purchase food items for drivers’ families, send to and keep their young children studying in elementary and high school, and get vaccines and medicines," the BH Party-List representative said.
 
Unlike the current 4Ps wherein the contact person of the DSWD are the mothers, the congresswoman wants the DSWD to trust and "help the impoverished fathers, some of whom are single parents or breadwinners supporting siblings, children and elderly parents."
 
"To instill responsibility and accountability, the new CCT for PUV drivers, ATM cards cannot be used for any purchases of alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and illegal drugs. Those ATM cards cannot be pawned or used as collateral in any way and doing so will mean automatic removal from the CCT program," she said.

"A strict condition for inclusion in the CCT for PUV drivers must be staying drug-free, alcohol-free, and gambling-free," Herrera-Dy stressed.

She identified the P24.488 billion in the Landbank budget, the Malampaya Fund, and the road user's tax as possible funding sources for the CCT for PUV drivers.

"Most Filipino drivers are living in poverty. Drivers of jeepneys, tricycles, and pedicabs often live in extreme poverty. They are disadvantaged because of the lack of education, livelihood options, and poor or zero access to basic government services," the congresswoman said.

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