By Raymund Antonio
Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday said fishermen around the country should also receive fuel subsidy from the government to ease the burden of higher oil prices.
Vice President Leni Robredo (Photo courtesy of Office of the Vice President of the Philippines via Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Iyong isang pinapakiusap natin, pati nga iyong mga mangingisda isama, dahil dependent talaga sila sa gasoline.” Robredo, an advocate of the poor, said.(One of our requests is for the inclusion of fishermen because they are dependent on gasoline.)
The Vice President wants the inclusion of fishermen under the Pantawid Pasada program because they also use gasoline for their fishing boats.
The fuel subsidy program is one of the mitigating measures to the impact of the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.
A total of P977 million was allocated by the government for the program that will benefit 179,000 jeepney drivers nationwide for the remaining six months of 2018.
Each public utility jeepney driver will receive P5,000 or P833 per month as fuel subsidy from July to December this year.
Robredo has been pushing for the review of the assistance packages in the TRAIN Law, with its continued impact to many Filipinos, especially the marginalized sector.
“Iyong amount ng Pantawid Pasada—kasya pa ba, o akma pa ba iyong amount, considering na hindi natin nag-predict iyong kataasan ng presyo ng gasolina?” she asked.
.(The amount for Pantawid Pasada – is it still enough or appropriate, considering that the higher prices of gasoline were not predicted?)
“Tingin ko iyon iyong... mas iyon iyong tingnan, kasi baka tinutulungan natin iyong isang sektor, mas malaki iyong naaapektuhan,” said Robredo.
(I think...that’s what we should look into, because we may be helping one sector and forgetting others that may be equally affected)
Robredo welcomed the P25 increase in the minimum daily wage of workers in Metro Manila and the steady inflation at 6.7 percent in October.