Gov’t sets P10-B TRAIN cushion

Malacañang is set to fully implement social protection programs worth P10 billion or P200 a month to the poorest Filipinos to mitigate the impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.

“During our last Cabinet meeting, the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) and the DoTr (Department of Transportation) announced that they will execute measures to mitigate effects of TRAIN Law,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said at a Palace briefing.

To cushion the impact of TRAIN among poor households, Roque said the DSWD will distribute next month P10 billion worth of financial assistance to 10 million beneficiaries under the unconditional cash transfer (UCT) component of the tax reform law.

Earlier, Department of Finance had said the UCT beneficiaries will receive assistance that will increase to P300 in 2019 and 2020.

DoTR, on the other hand, will start distributing cash vouchers amounting to more or less P5,000 to jeepney drivers and owners under the agency’s Pantawid Pasada program. The amount of each voucher would still depend on the amount of taxes that would be collected by the government through the TRAIN Law.

“It is being ironed out to avoid our experience in the previous administration that even those who have no franchise have been given subsidy,” Roque said.

The Palace official said the DoTr is currently fixing its database of jeepney drivers and owners to determine the number of legitimate beneficiaries for the program.

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