MANILA, Philippines - As it continued to work out kinks in a P2 diesel subsidy, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Wednesday asked transport groups to organize and police their own ranks to prevent fraud in availing of the planned P2 fuel subsidy.
In a radio interview, LTFRB chief Thompson Lantion said transport group leaders should organize their groups to ensure those who will avail of the subsidy are legitimate franchise holders.
"Yan naman ang bawa't hanay ang tagapangulo ng organization, mag-organize nang maigi (We ask transport groups, particularly their leaders, to organize their ranks well)," Lantion said in an interview on dwIZ radio.
Earlier, Lantion admitted having difficulties in drawing up guidelines for the implementation of the subsidy program, which he said will cost the government P3.3 billion for a three-month period.
Lantion said the biggest issue is franchise verification from legitimate franchise holders.
In the interview, Lantion said the LTFRB will initially coordinate with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the verification process, noting the LTO is issues official receipts for vehicles.
"Dapat hindi kasama ang ganoong sasakyan na walang pahintulot (We don't want unscrupulous parties who are not members of transport groups to avail of this)," Lantion said.
Lantion said one proposal is to have the transport organizations keep a record of their members, vehicles, and plate numbers, which can be verified at gasoline stations.
Citing data from his office, he said public utility vehicles consume an average of from 30 liters a day for Metro Manila routes, to 150 liters a day for provincial routes. He said it will be up to the operator to determine how much fuel will be consumed in a day, so the LTFRB and LTO can determine how much subsidy to give to them.
"Ang consumption nila based on a 26-day period, average 30 to 60 liters a day. For a 3-month period ito ang limit nila (Their subsidy will be based on their consumption, which in turn will be based on a 26-day period, on an average of 30 to 60 liters a day. This will be limited to a three-month period)," he said. - GMANews.TV