Militant fishers’ group eyes P100-B Malampaya fund for fuel subsidy

MANILA, Philippines—A militant fishers’ group slammed the government’s P450-million fuel assistance program on Wednesday, saying this was not a subsidy but a small-time donation that treated public utility drivers, farmers and fishermen like beggars.

“P500 million for oil subsidy for over two million poor and direct consumers of oil products like fishermen and jeepney drivers is only P250. And this is done like a one-shot deal, piecemeal escapade in the name of popularity ratings and image building,” said Salvador France, vice chair of the activist group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).

In a statement, Pamalakaya urged the government to use the P100-billion Malampaya fund to finance bigger fuel subsidies. The amount represents the total profits that the government has earned from the operations of the deepwater natural gas well off Palawan since 2002.

On Tuesday, Malacañang released Executive Order No. 32 providing for fuel subsidies under the Public Transport Assistance Program (PTAP). Energy officials, however, said it may take as long as a month before the program can take effect as there was a need to further thresh out the details of the program.

Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras earlier said this fuel assistance program was only a temporary measure that would “cushion the impact of escalating fuel prices on the (transport) sector so we address inflationary pressures.”

According to Almendras, 214,596 jeepneys are registered with the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board; 27,886 buses; 6,648 mini-buses; and roughly 1 million tricycles nationwide.

France said that if President Aquino really wanted to address the problem of rising petroleum prices, “all he has to do is to exercise political will to control oil price hikes, the will to stop overpricing and price manipulation of oil cartel, the will to scrap the 12 percent E-VAT on oil, the will to scrap the oil deregulation law and the will to nationalize the oil industry.”

Meanwhile, the group said it has filed a petition with the Department of Agriculture demanding the government to allot at least P32 billion in fuel subsidy per year for the fisher folk to cushion the impact of oil price increases.

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With a report from Kate Evangelista, INQUIRER.net