The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Sunday assured the public it will resume the distribution of fuel subsidy cards or the so-called Pantawid Pasada program, to legitimate and qualified passenger utility jeepney drivers this year.

LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra said they are already coordinating with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), to facilitate the distribution of the fuel cards to the drivers and their duly recognized representatives.

“We made representations with Landbank so that they will release the fuel subsidy card, even to a representative of the beneficiary by way of presenting a special power of attorney,” Delgra said.

Official records indicate there are currently 73,017 fuel subsidy card holders of the total 171,836 targeted beneficiaries.

The budget allocated for the program for this year is P3.86 billion.

The beneficiaries will receive a total of P20,000 each for the current year to offset the expected increase in fuel costs, following the implementation of the second tranche of Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law.

To recall, the government launched the fuel subsidy program last July, allocating a budget of P977 million to cover the remaining months of 2018.

A joint memorandum circular was signed with LBP to issue a P5,000 subsidy per PUJ unit from July to December.