Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 2) – The national government allotted ₱4 billion to provide fuel subsidies for the transport and agriculture sectors in 2023, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Thursday.
“As directed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., this administration will continue providing fuel subsidies to our kababayan [countrymen], especially in the most vulnerable sectors — public transport and agriculture,” DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said.
The DBM said ₱3 billion would be appropriated as fuel vouchers to the transport sector: public utility vehicle (PUV), taxi, tricycle, ride-hailing, and delivery service drivers.
Meanwhile, ₱1 billion would be given as fuel subsidies to farmers and fisherfolk. This would benefit over 312,000 members of the sectors with ₱3,000 per beneficiary, the agency said.
The funds will be taken from the regular budgets of the Department of Transportation and the Department of Agriculture under the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The ₱4 billion allotment is ₱500 million higher than the previous ₱2.5 billion fuel subsidy under the 2022 GAA. Last year, the previous administration’s Cabinet Economic Development Cluster proposed that the 2022 fuel subsidy be doubled to ₱5 billion amid skyrocketing fuel prices brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Kagagaling lang po natin sa pandemya. Naiintindihan po natin na maraming naapektuhang drivers and even our farmers and fisherfolks,” Pangandaman said.
[Translation: We just came from a pandemic. We understand that many were affected such as our drivers and even our farmers and fisherfolks.]
“We are banking on our transport and agriculture sector to boost economic recovery,” she also said. “And so we need to provide them the help and boost they need.”
Last Feb. 28, a fuel price rollback took effect. Gasoline went down by ₱0.70 per liter, diesel prices by ₱1.30 per liter, and kerosene by ₱1.80 per liter.
According to the Department of Energy, fuel price adjustments for 2023 stood at a net decrease of ₱2.40 per liter for diesel, kerosene at a decrease of ₱2.30 per liter, while gasoline saw a net increase of ₱5.30 per liter.
