Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday, June 22 urged the government to consider increasing its cash aid for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers affected by the rising cost of fuel to P3,000.

Gatchalian made the call as he deemed it much better than suspending the excise tax on fuel, which he said, should only be done as a “last resort.”

According to the senator, removing excise taxes on oil products could cost the government more than P150-billion worth of revenue loss in the next six months.

“My proposal is to give at least P3,000 a month for our public utility drivers in the next five months. That will cost approximately about P4-billion pesos. So it's still quite cheaper compared to suspending excise tax on fuel,” Gatchalian said in an interview on ANC Channel.

“This is only to cover the expenses and their take home pay at this level of P80 per liter of gasoline and diesel. They're taking home zero, they're not taking home anything. So the P3,000 pesos just to cover their take home pay at P3,000 pesos,” he said.

“Of course, we're hoping that it will not go up, (that) it will not go beyond P80 pesos per liter in the next few months. My proposal is to help them take home something for the family. We have to prepare now and I'm not saying that prices will not escalate in the near term, but at least we're shielding our consumers from runaway inflation,” the senator explained.

The Senate Committee on Energy chief also said the subsidies would also encourage drivers who have stopped plying the roads due to the soaring prices of fuel to go back and drive.

“At least if they are on the road, they will earn something as opposed to just being jobless. So the P3,000 is to hit on the drivers and encourage them to go on the streets and continue their work. The other side of them stopping driving is we will be undercapacity in terms of our transportation needs. Especially during rush hours,” he pointed out.

“Right now a lot of our commuters are feeling inconvenienced because they're lining up longer, it's taking time for them to find public transportation. So we have to also balance supply and demand in terms of capacities and encouraging them to go on the street is actually one way of finding that supply and demand equilibrium in terms of capacities,” Gatchalian reiterated.

The re-elected senator also said the government should consider expanding its “Libreng Sakay” program, its service-contracting program.

He noted that there are two programs currently being launched—the “Pantawid Pasada” program, and the “Libreng Sakay”—both of which are, government subsidies to the public transportation that “we need to sustain at least until the end of the year.”

“So my forecast here is we will need approximately about P4-billion to about P8-billion to shield the public transportation to this elevated international elevated pricing of oil,” he stressed.

“We should fund the Pantawid Pasada and Libreng Sakay program for 2023 and onwards,” the lawmaker suggested.

He said the government should at least make a forecast in five years and prepare for any eventuality.

“But we have very limited tools, and the tools that we're using now are direct subsidies,” he said.