By Alexandria Dennise San Juan More than 49,000 legitimate jeepney franchise holders have already received their fuel subsidy cards, three months after the government launched the Pantawid Pasada Program. Based on the data released by the Department of Transportation (DOTr), as of Monday, a total of 49,325 beneficiaries nationwide already claimed their fuel cards since it started the distribution last July. In Metro Manila, 6,279 out of the 35,644 fuel cards up for claiming were already distributed. The National Capital Region (NCR or Metro Manila) has the biggest number of recipients, followed by Regions 4 and 3 with a total of 26,365 and 21,945 available cards to be released, respectively. Region 4 already distributed 10,508 fuel cards, while Region 3 already released 9,108. Meanwhile, in Region 11, 65% or 2,909 of the 4,463 available cards for claiming were already distributed. LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III earlier said that there are a total of 179,852 recipients of the government’s fuel subsidy program on its Central Office and Regional Offices nationwide. The Department will continue to distribute the remaining 139,669 cards to beneficiaries. Upon claiming the fuel cards, the recipients should present an original and photocopy of the government-issued ID, one ID picture, and proof of franchise of the operator such as Certificate of Public Convenience, or franchise verification. The official list of beneficiaries of the fuel subsidy program can be viewed at the LTFRB website. The fuel cards given to the jeepney operators contained P5,000 subsidy from July to December to help them cope with increasing pump prices brought by the tax reform law. The Pantawid Pasada Fuel Cards, which were processed by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), will indicate the complete name of the franchise holder, plate number of PUJ, region where the franchise was registered, and the card number to avoid misuse. Delgra again reminded beneficiaries that the cash card is “very specific for fuel purchases only.” “We have a list of all gas stations all over the country and participating gas stations already posted tarpaulins that they are accepting payment through fuel cards,” Delgra said in an interview. Under Section 82 of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, qualified jeepney franchise holders are entitled to fuel vouchers as prices of fuel are expected to increase.