Eleazar

Eleazar seeks swift fuel subsidy to drivers, farmers

March 6, 2022 Alfred P. Dalizon 322 views

FORMER Philippine National Police (PNP) chief-turned senatorial candidate Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar on Sunday called on the national government to expedite and simplify the process of fuel subsidy distribution to the public transport and agriculture sectors.

He said the fuel subsidy is long overdue since the transport sector has been seeking government assistance in the middle of the series of big-time oil price hikes as early as January this year.

“Hindi na makatwiran kung patuloy pang made-delay ang pagbibigay ng ayuda lalo na sa transport sector dahil matagal na nilang hinihiling ito. Sobrang hirap na ang inabot ng ating mga kababayang tsuper at operator sa nakalipas na dalawang taon kaya hindi naman tama na sila ay nakatunganga kung kelan ba ibibigay ito,” the former top cop said.

Eleazar has repeatedly called on the government to provide assistance to the public transport sector which suffered the brunt of the lockdowns and strict implementation of health safety protocols on passenger capacity.

He also suggested that the government could either suspend the collection of excise tax for fuel on the TRAIN Law or allocate a significant amount of the taxes being collected to assist both the transport and agriculture sectors.

“Hangga’t hindi nila nahahawakan ang fuel subsidy, hindi maiiwasan na isipin nila na drawing lang ito,” said the retired police chief.

The national government earlier allocated a P2.5 billion fuel subsidy to the drivers and operators of public utility vehicles and P500 million for the agriculture sector.

At the same time, Eleazar also called on the government to start mapping out plans to cushion the impact on the oil price hikes on the prices of basic commodities, explaining that oil price hikes usually come with increases on the prices of vegetables and other basic goods.

“Sa ngayon, naghihintay din ang ating mga kababayan na marinig ang plano ng ating pamahalaan upang maiwasan ang immediate adverse effects ng napakataas na oil price hike lalo na sa mga mamimili sa palengke Ito din ang dapat pagtuunan ng pansin lalo na at hindi pa nakakarecover ang karamihan sa ating mga kababayan sa matinding,” he said.

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