KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 1 April) — Instead of a fare increase, tricycle drivers in Kidapawan City, the capital of North Cotabato, will receive a ₱1,000 monthly assistance beginning this month until December to help them cushion the impact of soaring fuel prices brought by the Middle East war.
Kidapawan Mayor Jose Paolo Evangelista said the funds for the subsidy would be sourced from the cancellation of some tourism-related activities and savings from energy conservation measures implemented by the city, among others.
The tourism-related activities that will be cancelled are the Sugba (grilling) Festival and the concerts involving highly-paid showbiz celebrities for the Timpupo Festival, the mayor said earlier this week in a video posted at the city government’s Facebook page.
He added that they are also evaluating if the fireworks display and the eat-all-you-can fruits during Timpupo would be abolished or scaled down this year due to the fuel crisis.
Evangelista, a lawyer, said that the first batch of tricycle drivers have already received their fuel subsidy last week, through a fleet card loaded with ₱1,000 each.
He stressed the city government is not distributing the assistance in cash to the drivers, as long queues are time wasted.
Instead of waiting, the tricycle drivers can utilize such time productively and earn income by continuing to do their trade, Evangelista said.
He noted the city government will directly load each driver’s fleet card with ₱1,000 henceforth until December.
There are at least 3,000 tricycle drivers reportedly with franchises acquired from the city government.
The mayor apologized to the tricycle drivers for not granting their clamor for a fare hike, saying he weighed heavily on the matter to come up with a “win-win” situation for the constituents.
“We should not pass on to the ordinary people the toll of this crisis. It is the government that [must] bear the burden,” Evangelista said, adding if the fare will be increased, “fewer passengers will ride the public transport system due to the higher fares.”
Evangelista said the city government will also extend help to palay and vegetable farmers by increasing the rates of the city’s agriculture buyback program.
He also ordered the local government’s work hours to start again from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, and a work-from-home setup on Friday.
Evangelista said the 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. four-day workweek “steals quality time for families,” with some parents reaching home “by 7 p.m. or beyond as they need to do grocery runs or find transport,” and then do evening house chores.
The mayor also directed that aircon temperatures in city government offices shall remain pegged at 24 degrees, and turned off after office hours along with the lights. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
