Tricycle drivers must not get left behind again on the matter of fuel subsidy.
This was the main takeaway from PASAHERO Party-list's appeal over the weekend even as government agencies continue to flesh out the guidelines on fuel subsidies for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers.
“This is now the chance of the government to extend help to our suffering tricycle drivers, who have been surprisingly left out of the program in the past," said party-list founder Robert Nazal.
He noted that tricycle drivers are among the vulnerable members of the transport sector amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the non-stop fuel price hikes.
The inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) had earlier announced that fuel subsidies would be provided to the transport and agricultural sectors as global crude prices surpassed the $100-per-barrel threshold for the first time since 2014.
However, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which chairs the DBCC, said that it is still waiting for the guidelines to be released by the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Party-list co-founder Allan Yap echoed Nazal's appeal for the government not to neglect the "tatlong gulong (triple-wheeled)" sector.
“It is time that we give fuel subsidy to tricycle drivers not only because they badly it, but also as a token for their service during this pandemic where they serve as the primary mode of transport for many of our kababayans (countrymen),” Yap said.
PASAHERO, also known as the Passengers and Riders Organization Inc., is a non-stock and non-profit organization that seeks to represent the riding public in road, sea, and air, including tricycle operators and drivers all over the Philippines.
For the upcoming May 2022 polls, PASAHERO Party-list has been endorsed by various federations of tricycle operators and drivers associations (TODA) in Luzon, including the NCR TODA Coalition and the Panlalawigan Pederasyon ng Bulacan, which have around 150,000 and 103,000 members, respectively.