By Camcer Imam CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The national government has allocated P28 million under the Pantawid Pasada Program (PPP) that will benefit operators of more than 5,000 public utility jeepneys (PUJ) in Northern Mindanao, even as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-10 (LTFRB-10) started releasing it Tuesday, Aug. 28, at the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Velez branch, here. (MANILA BULLETIN) Aminoden Guro, LTFRB-10 regional director, said there are 5,600 PUJs in the region, the owner-operators of which will receive a P5,000 subsidy per jeepney under the PPP., covering the period August to December, this year. The LTFRB has signed a memorandum of agreement with the LBP as its official releasing bank. Lilian Capistrano, branch manager of Land Bank-Velez, said the PPP card that the beneficiaries will receive has already been loaded with P5,000 each and can be used to purchase fuel at authorized gasoline stations. Guro said the PPP cards will be released only at Land Bank-Velez. The cash subsidy for PUJ operators was the result of the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law. Guro said the cash assistance will be given to operators and it is up to them if they want to make arrangement with their drivers regarding the utilization of the fuel subsidy. He said the card that will be given to the operators cannot be used to purchase other commodities but solely for fuel products. “We have authorized fuel refilling stations where the operators can use the card for refueling,” Guro said during the ceremonial distribution of the PPP cards outside the Land Bank Velez branch on Tuesday. Atty. Samuel Jardin, LTFRB executive director, said the card has its own security features so it cannot be abused. “It’s plate-specific,” Jardin said, referring to the fact that the name of the operator and plate number of the PUJ are printed on the card. Before operators are issued the PPP cards, they have already been validated if they have renewed or have confirmed their PUJ franchise, he said. For 2019, Jardin said operators will receive P20,000 cash subsidy per unit, adding that the amount given will depend on the excise tax on fuel that the government has collected. Guro said that they have reduced the number of PPP beneficiaries from 8,500 units to 5,600, as many of the operators have not renewed their PUJ franchises. The renewal or confirmation of the PUJ franchise is an essential requirement for the inclusion of a PUJ unit into the PPP. Luzminda Escobidal, PUJ operator, said the P5,000 cash grant is a laudable effort of the Duterte administration. “Imagine, you will save up to 5,000 because of the Pantawid Pasada. By next year it will become P20,000. That would be a huge saving for us,” she said. Escobidal is a member of the P.N. Roa Canitoan Operators Drivers Association (PCODA), a transport group with more than a hundred drivers and 56 PUJs.