House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Joey Salceda on Tuesday asked the Department of Transportation and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to release around P4.6 billion that the government owes to service contractors such as bus and jeepney operators under the transport service contracting program funded by Bayanihan 2, which is set to expire on June 30.
Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, also pressed DOTr and LTFRB to fast-track the implementation of the P5.58-billion Service Contracting Program under the Bayanihan 2 law, which is set to expire on June 30.
As confirmed by the LTFRB in a June 17 briefing, Salceda said only P1 billion of P5.5 billion allotted for the program has been distributed to service contractors.
“The service has already been obligated. Filipino workers are clearly in need of more public transport options. The funds are available, although expiring soon. We have to release these funds without delay,” Salceda said.
He added that safe, efficient public transport options through service contracting would help prevent overcrowding among commuters.
“From the very start of this pandemic, I already asserted that the only way to prevent overcrowding in public transport is through more public transport supply, not bans on public transport routes. Now, that was acknowledged through service contracting programs. But if we’re not paying contractors for services they already rendered, how will we keep this program running?” he asked.
“The P5.5 billion is already a government payable. The least we can do is actually pay them,” Salceda said.
Looming complication
Salceda also warned of what he called a “looming complication” in paying service contractors due to the expiry of Bayanihan 2, which authorized the program.
“Bayanihan 2 is expiring on June 30. We have to reauthorize the appropriations under the package, or else, we won’t be authorized by any law to pay the service contractors.”
“That’s a complication, and a humiliating one. Parang nag-1-2-3 sa jeep ang gobyerno kung mag-expire ang Bayanihan 2 pero hindi natin babayaran ang service contractors,” he added.
“There is 3 billion in the 2021 General Appropriations Act for transport service contracting, but that is just half of what we have under Bayanihan 2. That will not be enough, especially as more face-to-face work resumes,” Salceda warned.
Salceda earlier called for an extension of Bayanihan 2 through a memorandum for the House leadership, which the House tax panel chair says the leadership is actively exploring.
Sarmiento, for his part, said only 11 percent was utilized on the P5.58-billion Bayanihan 2 funding since its implementation in October last year.
Sarmiento also urged the LTFRB for a balanced disbursement of the P5.58-billion Bayanihan 2 subsidy on the said program for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The chairman of the House Committee on Transportation has asked the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and LTFRB to fast-track the implementation of the P5.58-billion Service Contracting Program under the Bayanihan 2 law, which is set to expire on June 30.
Following his committee hearing last Monday, Samar Rep. Edgardo. The lawmaker said the program is intended to mitigate the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country’s transport sector. However, its implementation under the law is set to expire on June 30, 2021.
Sarmiento also recommended to raise the manpower and the number of public-utility vehicles (PUVs) based on the demand during peak hours to fully utilize and accelerate its implementation.
He also appealed to the LTFRB for the immediate release of delayed payments to the PUVs that are under the service contracting program.
The DOTr and LTFRB launched the Service Contracting Program, in which the PUVs are being paid by the government based on the kilometers traveled for a sustainable source of income amid the pandemic.
It has a total funding of P8.58 billion coming from the P5.580-billion Bayanihan 2 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act subsidy and another P3 billion from the 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The implementation plan of the Service Contracting Program was initially focused on Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.
But LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III said the agency’s technical working group opted to execute the program nationwide due to the slow on-boarding of PUV drivers in the program, as well as to fast-track its implementation and funding utilization.
“When we did the revision on the program implementation to cover all regions in the country, our focus was not on the budget reallocation but rather on the allocation on the number of drivers per region,”
Delgra said.
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