The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has appealed to oil companies to provide bigger fuel discounts for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers who are still reeling hard from the effects of the pandemic and the increasing pump prices.

In a virtual media briefing on Saturday, Oct. 30, LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III said they already coordinated with the Department of Energy (DOE) to inform the oil firms of their appeal.

"We learned that the fuel discounts varies from one peso to three pesos per liter. Ang hiling natin through the DOE na mananatili itong discount na ito, kung puwede nga maitaas pa up to P5 per liter discount at specific po sa public transport, para tulong na rin po sa ating mga tsuper at mga operator sa pampublikong sasakyan (Our request through the DOE is to maintain this discount, or if possible, increase it up to P5 per liter discount for the public transport sector to help our PUV drivers and operators)," Delgra said.

He added that subsidy programs will continue to be implemented by the LTFRB and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to cushion the impact of the steady rise in fuel costs to the transportation sector which was among the hardest hit by the ongoing pandemic.

Delgra also shared that the agency has already prepared for the downloading of the P1 billion fuel subsidy fund from the government to be distributed to some 178,000 qualified PUV drivers.

"We already have coordinated with Landbank to utilize the Pantawid Pasada Cards that we have used last 2018 and 2019. Yung pagdisburse, idadaan natin doon sa Pantawid Pasada Cards (the subsidy will be disbursed through the Pantawid Pasada Cards)," he said.

"The P1 billion fuel subsidy that was approved will alleviate the increase in oil prices. That is what government is trying to address kasi alam natin na nahihirapan din iyong mga tsuper at mga operator na bumili ng krudo dahil sa pagtaas po ng presyo ng krudo (because we know that high fuel costs are additional burden to PUV drivers and operators)," Delgra added.

Aside from the fuel subsidy, the LTFRB chief said that the decision to gradually increase the passenger capacity in public transport to 100 percent will also help mitigate the impact of higher fuel costs.

The government's pandemic task force earlier approved the DOTr's proposal to slowly expand the passenger capacity in road and railway-based public transportation in Metro Manila starting Nov. 4.